How To Train Your Dragon: Battlefront
by atomicsub927
Summary: When the dragons returned, we lived in peace. When the earth became flooded, we left for the heavens. When the Insects came, we fought back as one. When people from within our own race turned against our brothers, we fought back. And now, years after finishing our last war, we have found something. A block of ice on an outer colony. But we aren't the only ones in this galaxy.
1. The Big Empty

**The reason why this story is not classified as a full crossover, is because I have borrowed the aliens and plot from several different science fiction series. But I must mention that the ideas of how Night Fury families and bonding works is not my own. The ideas behind them working are from a story called 'Living Vicariously' by Vigo Grimborne, they are his ideas not mind. I thank him for letting me include them, and I recommend his stories. Even if you like Hiccstrid.**

* * *

The _Unyielding Hierophant_. The largest ship ever built for humanity, the most feared vessel across all of Archia space. It was an immense ship, which radiated power. Right down from the main body, which stretched like a tower block, slowly widening into the four massive drive units attached to the back. The ship blistered with weapons, and was a testament to humanities engineering spirit. Constructed from titanium enriched with Gronkle iron, the ship was designed to be the last hope if it ever came down to a violent first contact, and violent first contacts where something humanity was used to.

Way back in the iron era, a group of just five teenagers had changed the world. They had shown, that the firebreathing creatures known as dragons, which lived as wild animals, where intelligent and beautiful creatures. They had disappeared soon after the dragons did. Many rumours took their place. Some say they died, others that they lived happily ever after. Others even claimed they where still alive, hibernating till they where needed. But one thing that no-one argued against, was that when the dragons returned, the humans knew it was for a reason. Studies found that the Hidden world had drowned. A cave in caused thousands of gallons of water from deep under the earths crust to come up. Thanks to some nuclear engineering and massive ships the scale at which had never been seen before, some of the populous itself was saved from drowning, but not before the sea levels rose significantly, killing those who remained.

But from this society, a civilization, united by the creatures they stood next to rose. Ideas began to spread, first from Norway, then Great Britain, Asia, America, Mars, Terra Nova, Ceres, Ganymede. A united humanity under the Archian Federation. Led by the director, they managed to reclaim all that was lost, and expand into the stars. Fast forward five hundred years and the Archian Federation covered well over 1200 star systems with thousands upon thousands of ships. A primarily militaristic society built on the ideals of the Vikings, it was a powerful nation in it's decisive actions. Resembling a hierarchical society in nature but still keeping elements of a republic with the grand council and the different departments.

One thing was almost certain though, they weren't alone. Soon after reaching space, a horrifying race of insects known as the Rachni spread throughout human space, trying to consume any colony they found. They where repelled by dragon riders who fought under starships of unprecedented scale, who fought valiantly, till eventually they where extinguished, and the federation breathed a collective sigh of relief, but this was a merely a stop gap. Just a few decades years later an even more brutal conflict made of people from within their own planets would rise. After this war, They now knew, better than anyone, that the universe was a harsh and unforgiving place. And that to defend their ideals, they needed a proper military. Thousands upon thousands of dollars into research and development gave them the FTL drive. A special drive which created an oscillating warp field around the ship, allowing it to travel without needing to obey certain laws. This same warp effect also gave them high-end computers, nanite railgun maintenance robots and high-efficiency thrusters. Artificial gravity was still not viable though. Ships found themselves relying on the incredibly efficient Epstein drive for gravity, stations where built to revolve, and research outposts made use of this same revolving design, but suspended on stabilisers and mag rails.

This eventual progress led to larger and larger ships being constructed. From the _Taranto_ class Carrier, to the _Moscow_ class Battlestar, to the _Jupiter_ class Battlecruiser, to the _Dreadnought_ class Flagship, their ships developed and developed until they hit their current size. The flagship of the federation, the _Unyielding Heirophant_. At over 7 kilometers it was the largest ship ever builtand was packed with so much weaponry it could probably glass a planet solo. (Not that it would try. A siege cruiser wolfpack could carry out the same task just as easily).

So as Director Viggo Grimborn sat in the most powerful position in the known galaxy, he couldn't help but let his pride take over for a moment, watching as the massive Martian shipyards released the latest of the federations mighty _Donnager_ class flagships, the _Agatha King_. The _Donnager_ class was an update to the now retired _Truman_ class. Featuring a new and improved antimatter reactor, the ships could fit twice the amount of equipment, making them the only true jack-of-all-trade ships in the federation with the exception of the _Heirophant_. They clocked in at a whopping 3200 meters long each, and the particularly attractive sight was the huge VX-24 'Warhammer' Super heavy railgun turrets mounted on the port and starboard hull. The VX-24 could hurl a 200 ton tungsten slug at massive velocity, making it the second most devastating weapon in humanity, with the exception of VX-30 'Equaliser' Ultra-heavy railgun turrets on the _Heirophants_ sides. At the size those bad boys where, each gun was actually the size of a heavy frigate, and could fire a projectile every 32 seconds or so.

It was in it's power, that the federation suffered though. Their current drive was effective, but produced so much heat, that on leaving warp, it left the ship visible for the entire system to see. So that was why Viggo had called Lead Researcher Jonsi Oswaldson from the advanced R+D department to his ship. "Director you wished to see me?". The Englishman chuckled, "Yes I did, tell me, are you aware of the main difficulty we have with the warp drive?".

The researcher had little difficulty replying, "Creates a hel of a lot of heat. I think Thor's hammer was forged with less. Means anyone who so much as glances at us can see a corvette for Odin's sake". The man continued staring at the_ Agatha King_ as it's Epstein drive pushed it away from the system, he could still see the airlock where he had cracked open a mead over to celebrate it's commissioning. "Indeed, can I offer you some refreshments". The man shook his head, "Can I ask what this is about? Not everyday I get an invitation to the flagship of the federation, Eret nearly snuck into my bag".

Viggo chuckled at the thought of rear admiral Eret Eretson attempting to stow away. The poor bastard hadn't been promoted since he took control of the AWS _John Paul Jones_. "Guess what the leader of the grand council said to me yesterday. He turned round, regarding the researcher carefully.

"The parliment want a larger military. They just redirected a sizable portion of the budget towards the fleet yards, particular those in Arcturus and Elysium. Robinson wants 10% of the population at least in reserves, he wants to split the marines into their own branch. And the commissioning of seven new fleets. He also wants to clone the _Heirophant_. Even came up with a name".

The researcher rose, "I will take that offer of a drink, and go on, what name have they got for the second of the class?". He poured a small glass of whiskey.

"The yards near Arcturus just started laying down the hull. And the name their going for is the _ASW Long Night of Solace_". Jonsi almost choked on his drink, Didn't Jack already have his fun with the not-so-subtle naming of the second flagship _Rocinate_, naming her entire class _Donnager_".

"Apparently not, since they're renaming the _Freyja_ class Destroyer when it undergoes it's refits to the _Leonidas_ class. Sometimes I doubt the maturity of our shipbuilders".

"They spent two grand on a team of creative consultants just to name the Arcturus fighter teams FLAMINGO"

"What does that even stand for?".

"Flying Landing And Meanwhile Initialising Non-stop Gnarly Operations".

Viggo barely stopped from choking on his own laughter, "And these kind of people are in my government? What the hell are they dressed like?".  
"Usual gear for fighter pilots, 'cept they have a flamingo on their armour. And whenever they enter a hangar they put on sunglasses, and answer any request with 'Flamingos never say die', then start rocking their heads back and forth".

Both men had a good laugh at that. It was a well known fact that the women and men in charge of ship development, weren't just nerds, but liked to give the middle finger to old earth culture.

"Anyway, I need you to start up a new project, and I have the files right here". He passed over a USB stick, which was pretty boring looking. Just a black drive. "What's the project". He buried the drive in his pockets, and finished his drink.

"Project _Normandy_. I want a fully operation stealth ship, and I want it before the turn of the century".

"Your talking about designing, building and testing a ship in three years? By that time the _Long Night of Solace_ will barely be started. And they already have the Schematics. But this..."

"Can I have confidence in you Jonsi?".

"We may not do it, But I'll be damned to Helheim if we don't try our hardest". He saluted, before leaving the office, heading towards one of the _Heirophan_t's many hangar bays, while Viggo simply stared as the bay next to where _Agatha King_ had been moored, where a solitary _Valkyrie_ class Battlecruiser was under construction.

**Palevan, Homeworld of the Turian Heirarchy**  
Primarch Tiberius Fedorian sighed as the darkened skies of Palevan began to roll forth. The thunderstorm season was upon them, just what they needed. With the Asari empire taking more and more territory each month, it was a miracle the Heirarchy hadn't collapsed. They where outnumbered and outgunned completely. For years now, they had lost contact with their last allies, the salarians. And now they where alone, against a galaxy spanning civilization which had already subjugated most other races. They had fought valiantly, not giving up a single millimetre without bloodshed. But there where just three colonies between Palevan and the battlefront. Fedorian was a turian, his race proud and very sturdy in their beliefs. Military service was mandatory in the turian heirarchy, no matter who you where. But even that wasn't saving them from a race which had drunk one too many ryncols and started warmongering.

"Commander, I have the reports from Magna fleet shipyards".

He turned away from the windows and beckoned for him to continue, "Go ahead".

"The _Harbinger of Magna_ is still 50% through construction and they're running out of eezo to build it, but the fourth fleet has been repaired and reinforced with the new cruisers and frigates. We can begin hit-and-run attacks on the asari lines soon".

He nodded, "Did Admiral Arterius report in from the Traverse?". The ensign was much more silent, "No sir not yet, the council of Primarchs has declared the _Palevan's Revenge_ destroyed in action, along with the sixth fleet".

He solemnly took this in, before dismissing the messenger, "Thank you ensign, you may return to your duties". The man saluted, before retreating from the room. This was a disaster. Two fleets completely lost, a third heavily damaged and a fourth only just finished repairs. They where losing the war, that much was clear, but he would be damned if he didn't make the blues pay for every spirits-damned step they took.

Way above the city, he could make out a wolfpack of patrol frigates, making their way towards Menae, where the First fleet commanded by Admiral Adrien Victus was stationed. It held one of their 12 remaining dreadnoughts, the _Watchful Guardian_, and stood ready to defend the homeworld to it's dying breath. Which was likely what would happen, if the situation didn't take a turn for the better.

**Codex Updated: Ships of the Federation**  
**Loki class Corvette**  
Size: 295 meters

Appearance: Similar to Leonidas class from 'The Expanse' (This is purely for your own curiosity)

Mass: 195,000 tons

Crew: 450

Armament: 2 'Thorston' Pattern Light railguns, 42 Haddock Ballistics 40mm PDCs, 12 Torpedo Tubes

Powerplant: RT800 S-Series Epstein drive (Cruiser class)

Auxiliary Craft: 2 Repair skiffs, 6 L-Type Planetary dropships, 12 'Aurora' Assault Fighters

Lore: A versatile and reliable ship, the Loki class is manoeuvrable and fast. Possessing one of the fastest Epstein drives available and being able to keep up with gunboats and gunships, the Loki class is usually used in fleet screening, thanks to its huge PDC complement.

**Strident class Frigate**  
Size: 670 meters

Appearance: UNSC Paris class frigate but with less broadside weapons compared to class

Mass: 400,000 tons

Crew: 900

Armament: 1 Spinal VX-12 Foehammer Railgun, 40 Haddock Ballistics 40mm PDCs, 16 Torpedo Tubes

Powerplant: 2 RT600 Q-Series Epstein drive (Frigate class)

Auxiliary Craft: 2 Repair Skiffs, 8 L-Type Planetary dropships

Lore: An extremely tough and resilient ship, the Strident class is usually relegated to patrolling planetary shipping lanes and law enforcement, where more force than a single corvette is required. Possessing a unique honeycombed Gronkle Titanium hull, the Strident is unusually strong for it's size, being able to outlast cruiser weight ships.

**Leonidas class Destroyer (Formerly Freyja class)**  
Size: 800 meters

Appearance: A much smaller version of the UNSC Spirit of Fire from Halo

Mass: 500,000 tons

Crew: 1010

Armament: 1 Spinal High-velocity Magnetic-hydrodynamic projection cannon, 2 Spinal VX-12 Foehammer Railguns, 20 Haddock Ballistics 40mm PDCs, 20 Torpedo Tubes

Powerplant: Dual RT800 S-Series Epstein drives (Frigate class), Quad RT-100 Micro-Epstein Torches (Patrol Torpedo Boat class)

Auxiliary Craft: 12 QEC Scout drones, 8 L-Type Planetary dropships

Lore: Known for being glass cannons, the Leonidas class packs more power per square meter than any other ship. It's spinal Hydro-projection cannon (Nicknamed Cobalt Lances) has a massive yield and is extremely powerful. Unfortunately this makes the Leonidas class very weak for it's size, and it demands the presence of frigates and corvettes to protect it.

**Resilience class Defence Cruiser**  
Size: 1010 meters

Appearance: Similar to Donnager class Battleship from 'The Expanse'. Extra railguns are mounted on the two extra mounts seen on the dorsal and ventral hull, while the light railguns are on the side of the lower bow mounted part (The bit without the torpedo tubes)

Mass: 680,000 tons

Crew: 3200

Armament: 4 'Jorgenson' Pattern Medium Railguns, 2 'Thorsten' Pattern Light Railguns, 72 Haddock Ballistics 40mm PDCs, 20 Torpedo Tubes

Powerplant: Four RT600 Q-Series Epstein drive (Frigate class)

Auxiliary Craft: 32 'Aurora' Assault Fighters, 18 'Pulsar' Attack Bombers, 12 L-Type Planetary Dropships, 24 Broadside boarding pods, 6 Repair skiffs. Can replace 12 fighters for a single Patrol Torpedo Boat.

Lore: A versatile and sturdy design, the Resilience class is a utility ship designed primarily for supporting destroyers and frigates in battle. Capable of acting as staging grounds for invasions thanks to a large cargo bay, they are usually present to coordinate communications across engagements.

**Thor class Cruiser**

Size: 1320 meters

Appearance: Shape is roughly similar to UNN Agatha King, but much more bulky, and with four additional railguns near built on the broadsides.

Mass: 890,000 tons

Crew: 4000

Armament: 2 'Hofferson' Pattern Heavy Railguns, 4 'Jorgenson' Pattern Medium Railguns, 80 Haddock Ballistics 40mm PDCs, 32 Torpedo Tubes

Powerplant: Six RT800 S-Series Epstein Drives (Frigate class)

Auxiliary Craft: 36 'Aurora' Assault Fighters, 20 'Pulsar' Attack Bombers, 20 L-Type Planetary Dropships, 24 Broadside boarding pods, 4 Repair skiffs, 2 M-Type Planetary support gunships

Lore: The mighty Thor class, the hammer of the Federation. Designed above all for multi-use, the Thor class is extremely adaptable for almost any role. They work well solo or in fleet groups and carry a troop complement considered large for their size, and have a dedicated force of onboard dragons for defence.

**Odin class Light Carrier**  
Size: 1800 meters

Appearance: Similar to the Jupiter class Battlestar, but with the flight pods (the two long bits either side) slightly closer to the main hull.

Mass: 1,600,000 tons

Crew: 8000

Armament: 2 'Hofferson' Pattern Heavy Railguns, 90 Haddock Ballistics 40mm PDCs, 50 Torpedo Tubes

Powerplant: Quad RT800 S-Series Epstein Drives (Cruiser class)

Auxiliary Craft: space for up to 400 Fighters or bombers. Also carries 30 L-Type Dropships as standard, 4 M-type gunships and additional space for strike craft, skiffs, dropships or gunships. Also has massive cargo bay for carrying additional ground vehicles, and docking points for 'Archangel' Support platforms.

Lore: Designed to carry out planetary invasions all by itself, the Odin class is truly a proper carrier. Their hangar bays are connected directly to the cargo bay, and allow it to diversify it's loadout significantly. The fighters and bombers can be deployed almost instantly thanks to magnetic launch bays built onto the flight pods stacked either side.

**Valkyrie class Battlecruiser**  
Size: 2300 meters

Appearance: Similar in design to the mid section of the Leonidas class from 'The Expanse', but with the fore hull of the UNSC Infinity and the rear hull of the UNN Agatha King.

Mass: 1,800,000 tons

Crew: 8000

Armament: 2 VX-24 'Warhammer' Super-heavy Railguns, 12 'Hofferson' Pattern Heavy Railguns, 260 Haddock Ballistics 40mm PDCs, 140 Torpedo Tubes, 3 Heavy High-velocity Magnetic-hydrodynamic projection cannons

Powerplant: Quad RT1400 X-Series Epstein Drives (Capital Ship class)

Auxiliary Craft: A few hundred of strike craft, dozens of dropships, boarding pods and more space for Patrol Torpedo Boats, gunships however a much smaller cargo space due to it's higher reactor size.

Lore: Carrying more weapons than the Donnager class, the Ares class is the most recent ship in the Archia arsenal and carries the most advanced reactor in all of known space. It is an extremely powerful warship, though is somewhat less able at carrying strike craft

**Donnager class Flagship**  
Size: 3200 meters

Appearance: Similar to the fore hull of the UNSC Infinity, attached to the rear engine mounts of the MCRN Donnager.

Mass: 2,000,000 tons

Crew: 11000

Armament: 2 VX-24 'Warhammer' Super-heavy Railguns, 12 'Hofferson' Pattern Heavy Railguns,, 210 Haddock Ballistics 40mm PDCs, 100 Torpedo Tubes, 2 Heavy High-velocity Magnetic-hydrodynamic projection cannons

Powerplant: Quad RT1400 X-Series Epstein Drives (Capital Ship class)

Auxiliary Craft: Hundreds of strike craft, dozens of dropships, hundreds of boarding pods and more space for Patrol Torpedo Boats, gunships and a large cargo space.

Lore: Recently introduced, the Donnager class could take on any ship and likely win. Being armed with such a massive weapon and fighter complement makes these ships completely impervious to most tactics. Many say that the only way to take on a Donnager class is to 'Have the bigger fleet and pray'

**Heirophant class Super-flagship**  
Size: Classified

Appearance: Like a large version of the Donnager class flagship from above

Mass: Classified

Crew: Classified

Armament: Classified

Powerplant: Classified

Auxiliary craft: Classified

Lore: The unholy offspring of high quality engineering, thousands of tons of materials, good physics designs, and a mountain of guns. Never engage this ship, if it arrives in-system. Lay down weapons and surrender unless you have an entire nation behind you.


	2. Mass Effect

Sorry, made a mistake. Last chapter codex entry on the Ares class is supposed to be the Valkyrie class.

* * *

**Freezing-to-Death, Archian Colony on Fringe of Explored Territory, 3 years later**

If you asked anyone what the most dangerous planet in the Federation to be on is, they would instantly answer with 'Sparta'. Not only was it the breeding place of Whispering death class dragons, the main special forces training area, and the fourth largest fleet shipyards in the galaxy, but it also hosted an inhospitable climate which could swallow a nightmare if it wanted too. One thing which no-one would say, was Freezing-to-Death. The fringe colony could barely be called a colony. Hosting a mere 230,000 people, but it was a dangerous place to be. A very low energy star, and the 5% lower atmospheric pressure meant that the entire planet was much colder than it should be. Living there was something akin to living in northern Canada on the best of times. But humans are stubborn creatures, dragons equally so, and they had claimed this world.

The defence force wasn't very large compared to inner worlds, just several frigates and a few corvettes, however it still hosted the standard complement of VX-10 'Stiletto' Orbital gun platforms. Not that they had been used, until deep space scanning picked up an object of unknown composition. Shaped like a massive tuning fork, and almost twice the size of the _Unyielding Heirophant _the colony had sent a small scout frigate to perform scans of the object, with a scientist onboard. As it neared, the object seemed to radiate a mysterious aura.

"Engines cut back to 1g please, engineering prep our recon drones". Deep within the ship, the huge reactors slowly whined back down, no longer having to accelerate the ship at 10g. "Sensors are up, object is made of... Dragonium?'. Surely not", dragonium was a very rare form of metal created in only two places, when Gronkles combined their iron with titanium and then subjected to the pressure only found in neutron stars, or in the center of said neutron stars. It was nigh invincible, and the Federation only used it for small projects, since it was so difficult and expensive to manufacture. "Impossible, rescan". The ensign nodded, and pressed several buttons, "Woah, something just activated". A screen lowered from the ceiling, and Captian Bowman glanced with awe at the artefact. Without warning, the screen went from a tame blue to a deep red.

The object had lit up. Blue lights flickering across the two prongs, and the antennae on it's roof glowing red. "The object is fluctuating wildly on all sensors. Gravitational readings off the chart!". A white glow materialised suddenly in the curved loop, and the two rings began revolving faster and faster. "Tachyon scans now, what the hel is going on?". The ship shook slightly as the RCS pushed it's mass round attempting to make distance between them and the object. "Unknown ship detected".

"All hands battlestations, set condition one throughout the ship". He turned to communications, "Warn Freezing, possible first contact scenario". He turned back to the screen, where he watched a blue aura built up, before an object appeared next to the tuning fork. "Unknown vessel, heavily damaged. Measures 1123 meters in length, classification: Cruiser". Another one dropped, and another one. "New contacts. Most heavily damaged. Varies between heavy frigate and patrol destroyer class". Another flash, this one was different, as just seconds after appearing it exploded, sending yellow flames outwards. "Their ship just exploded, detected heavy energy pulse before detonation".

"Power up the railgun and hail them, let's see what we can do". At the front of the ship, several capacitors began to prepare to send their electricity into a massive magnetic railgun built into a spinal mount. "Comm is open".

"This is Captain Johnathon Bowman of the Archian Federation. You have entered Federation space, and we are requesting you identify yourself, over". Then they waited. With baited breath, finally, the reply arrived. The language was unfamiliar, a mix of guttural growls and sounds with a secondary acoustic sound which reminded him of how dragons communicated. "They've sent some images. They want to head towards the gas giant and... vent something?".

"Send them a reply which says they can, and also see if we can't meet them in person". They nodded and pressed their computer again. It looked like for the first time, humanity was making peaceful first contact. Mostly.

_**Palevans Revenge, **_**Turian Heirarchy Dreadnought**

The _Palevans Revenge _was a dreadnought. They where the largest ships in the hierarchy, and the second largest ship in the galaxy. The only ship which could compete with the dreadnought was the _Destiny Ascension, _the feared flagship of the Asari Fleets. Armed with two dreadnought-grade mass accelerator cannons, the ship could rip most cruisers apart in several shots. They also functioned as staging grounds for planetary invasions, carrying 16 fighters, 8 interceptors, 8 bombers and 30 shuttle craft as well as 14 gunships refitted with magnetic clamps, the ships where incredibly versatile. Their broadside guns could easily dispatch frigates and corvettes, and their RAMPART laser grid was impressive. Compared to the GUARDIAN grids of the asari, the RAMPART grid was far more effective against larger ships, which allowed them to compensate for the much stronger kinetic barriers of the asari fleet, and their silaris plating.

Commanding _Palevans Revenge _was Fleet Admiral Desolas Arterius, hero of the turian heriarchy, and presumed KIA. His fleet had been attacked above Artemec, one of their outer colonies, and he had lost 20% of his fleet within minutes. He had then been forced to retreat. He had then escaped via several mass relays and opened a dormant one, hopefully to hide and repair, before returning to Palevan. But now he had entered the relay, and was having to deal with an unknown race who's power signature was approaching battleship grade, despite only having several cruisers and light frigates in the system.

"UCs have launched shuttles, incoming now. ETA 10 minutes". These unknown ships where so strange. Unlike the turians or asari, their ships relied primarily on broadside firepower. Huge turrets which housed magnetic railguns where built onto the ships, and his scanners where picking up huge amounts of antimatter and even gunpowder! They obviously didn't have access to eezo since none had been detected on any ships. And there almost certainly wasn't enough of a presence in the system for it to be their home system. It was likely a colony, and if it was a race which had managed to crack FTL some other way, it could be a decisive advantage in the face of the Asari wars.

The Ten minutes passed quickly, and Arterius headed towards the hangar with his marine complement, ready to greet them. The turian fighters not being repaired had been parked in a perfectly straight line. His men where stood to attention. Everything about the hangar was designed to show they where ready for first contact. What they weren't ready for, was for 6 lethal looking gunships to dive into the hangar and land on the metal plating. As the doors opened, multiple odd reptilian creatures stepped out alongside the odd hairless mammals which made up the race. The two at the front looked like giant birds. With spikey heads and tails, and very brightly coloured scales covering a sleek and agile body. Behind them where two much larger creatures. They where similar in build, but with puppet-like faces which extended outwards as they tilted their heads with curiosity. They had two sets of reptile-like wings, and their wings had small claws and a long set of bones for control. The final two creatures where between them in sized. One was purple, the other a fiery red. They had very sharp looking teeth, long angular horns and sharpened black claws. Overall, the creatures where magnificent and he found himself admiring the 4 winged ones, especially the lighter orange one. It reminded him of a turian destroyer in build.

Surprisingly, the mammalian creature who dismounted the four winged one spoke in clear turian, his voice slightly synthesised by a machine he wore which circled around his ear. "Greetings Admiral. My name is captain Johnathon Bowman of the Archia Federation". He shook himself out of his stupor and held out his hand in greeting. "Captain, I am Admiral Arterius of the Turian Heirarchy, we welcome you to _Palevans Revenge"_.

The human shook his hand, "A very beautifully designed ship if I do say so myself. Our ships are designed for their power in combat. While intimidating, they are not particularly glamorous". The turian rose a little higher, feeling a sense of pride. "Thank you captain. I must say you do know how to make an entrance on such... beautiful creatures".

The human beckoned his creature forward. "You're making Cloudjumper blush. She isn't used to such complements, though she is indeed one of the rarer dragons".

"Drag- on?".

He nodded, scratching the creature under it's chin. "Cloudjumper is a stormcutter type dragon. Very docile and intelligent for her kind. I met her when I was just 11, like all bonded dragons she is fiercely protective of me, and she is more than simply a pet". Curious himself, he began to approach the magnificent creature. "Easy Cloudjumper, he's just curious". The dragon tilted it's head more, and the turian was shocked at such an intelligent gesture. "Can he understand me?". The human nodded, "Dragons possess a unique ability. They can sense your feelings and react accordingly. Some like the Hobblegrunt can change their colours to reflect this". He felt soft scales nuzzling at his hands and his bodyguards tensed at such a giant creature acting so gentle. "Are the creatures behind you dragons as well?", asked his first officer.

"Yes. The bird-like ones with spines are called Deadly Nadders, very vain and prideful, and the ones behind them are Monstrous Nightmares, honour bound warriors who strive for respect". He withdrew his hand and looked at the humans themselves. The captian was dressed in a formal suit of some kind, obviously his uniform, while the men behind where dressed in armour which matched their dragon's colours, and all wore heavy helmets with spines raising from the heads. All-in-all, they where very intimidating. "Perhaps we could continue this in a meeting room of some form". The human nodded and beckoned towards the exit, "After you, admiral".

**Sol System, Martian Fleet Shipyards**

"Peaceful alien life, how exciting", Viggo said, looking at an image of the alien admiral.

He was tall, possibly six or even seven foot. With blue-tinted plates covering him, and a long fringe which swept back in five spikes, similar to the spikes on a Nadder's head crown. They had cat-like eyes, and shared something in common with the Archian Federation with their apparently militaristic nature and honourbound attitude.

"Yeah maybe not so peaceful". His head snapped round to Hackett, who was sat on one of the seats. "Go ahead". He raised his data tablet and sent several files to Viggo, who scanned them over. "They're at war with some space people called the Asari. They're losing. And whoever these Asari are, it's clear they're the aggressors, since I don't see these Turians trying to fight a war they can't win".

Viggo placed the datapad down with a sigh. "Let me guess, they're a more blunt-force kind of empire. Only fights if they're guaranteed to win". Hackett nodded and sipped his whiskey. "This is not good".

"Sir?".

"The parliment already wanted to increase build-up. With this? I just got a call from every single advisor".

"And?"

"Goyle wants 14 new fleets and twice our ground force. Barle wants 18 new fleets and the full breeding programs enforced on all worlds and Ngyuen wants us to reclassify the _Heirophant _class as a flagship, and sent me schematics for the _Sun Tzu_, he wants a 13 kilometre long dreadnought, that isn't even counting Udina".

Hackett chuckled, "What do the firmies want?".

"They went to split each individual species into a military force, a twenty kilometre long flagship, 12% of the population in the military. He even wants every man, women and child to be trained in weapons and defence from aged 12". He sunk into his chair. "It's days like these that make me want to resign". Hackett passed over a flask of mead he always kept on him. Viggo took a long drink.

"What do the council say about the asari?".

"A third want us to join the turians, another third want us to remain neutral, the others are undecided". He passed the flask back. "We can't afford it Steven. Only we know why we have so many damned ships".

"So we're prepared for the Rachni, when they inevitably return. May I remind you, that we could just say we found a Rachni battlecruiser in our space? Then it would make finding the money easier ".

"It's not just that, its the precursors as well. They where a full galactic empire, and they succumbed to civil war, famine. The only race which has survived the extinction of the protheans and the precursors are the Rachni, so how can we hope to defeat them".

"We have tech they don't know. Their largest ships just classify as capital ships for us, and we have the dragons. We have two different species united as brothers, and if I'm entirely honest sir, the Turians would certainly be amendable to a military alliance".

"But what about the asari, we can't just bombard them back to the stone age".

"No, but we can show them they aren't the most powerful race. This data shows they're cocky, complacent. They haven't fought against a race like us which knows the hardships of war. We are superior in every way except biotics. Something the turians and the dragons both make up for".

"So you reckon we should join the turians. Cylon our way through the galaxy".

Viggo was interrupted by the doors swinging open. "Director the press are ready for your statement". He placed his cap on his head, before rising. "When I get back, I want a full report from Jonsi. Project: _Normandy_ would be certainly be useful to us".

**ARSS _Destiny Ascension_**

"And you're sure the data is correct"

"No doubt Matriarch, the flotilla could only have gone through Relay 314"

"Prep the fleet, all hands man battlestations"

"Understood ma'am"

"And lieutenant?"

"Ma'am?"

"No survivors. We make a statement today".

"Yes sir"

**Codex Entry - Element Zero**

Relying on the mysterious resources known as element zero, turian FTL and weapon technology sends negatively charged particles through the substance, generating a so-called 'Mass Effect' field. This field lowers the mass of both the photons surrounding the projectile and he projectile significantly. The projectile is then accelerated via coilgun propulsion to relativistic velocities (dreadnought grade cannons can hit 12% lightspeed) and creates an incredibly powerful projectile.

The same principle is used in the opposite way for their artificial gravity, using linear fields applied across the entire ship. The effect itself is remarkable, and suggests that the substance itself is not only out-of-phase with this version of our galaxy, but likely a resource only created under specific circumstances. (Possibly supernovae or the center of galaxies). The artefact discovered near Freezing-to-Death is bounds ahead of what the turians have though. We estimate it is capable of accelerating objects to speeds where galactic travel is almost instant.

This is somewhat troubling, because neither the Turians or the supposed 'Asari' have the technological capability to create this technology. Not even the prothean ruins across Archian space are this high level technology. Alarming similarities have been found in the strange fields surrounding the so-called 'Mass Relays' and the 'Indoctrination' techniques employed by the Red Death class dragon (Sea Dragonus Maximus).

This also suggests that the dragon species is not only capable of resisting this (As seen with the Fury and Bewilderbeast class) but capable of hijacking this, meaning whoever implanted the technology in the Red Death did not fully study the species. Whether this is due to a lack of time, or due to arrogance we have not yet determined.

Options could be this Rachni? Possibly those who gave the Rachni such technology, as such a race does not develop in typical ways

Researcher Jonsi suggests it may be possible to utilize this 'Mass Effect' to increase the power of our own mass accelerators by a factor 7, and he already plans to retrofit project: Normandy with a Hydro-projection cannon rivalling even dreadnought grade railguns, though the tech is decades away without some seriously miraculous leaps in technology.


	3. Hunter, Prey

**Third chapter here we go. I know some are wondering where Hiccup is. Well, he isn't joining the story till 6th or 7th chapter when the real action begins. And yes Toothless will still be alive. Hiccup and his friends weren't the only ones who where frozen in time. The Night-lights will also make an appearance, however I couldn't find a way to fit Nuffink and Zephr into the story without changing it significantly. This is set thousands of years in the future, but Hiccup is still quite young. (5 or so years after the Hidden World)**

**Also, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY. Can you believe it? 9 whole years since that fateful day when the movie which was released based on a book series. Who knew I would do this wierd conglomeration of Sci Fi and HTTYD. Yes I know its several days late. To make up for this and my exam revision I will give you a sneak peak at...**

**_Yeah right, more like playing World of Warships_**

**Jamie shut up, I think you'll find my knowledge of database programming is a hell of a lot more developed.**

**_Do those databases involve post-first world war warships and 13 inch gun batteries_**

**Well actually-**

**_YOU WHERE PLAYING WORLD OF WARSHIPS_**

**I WAS REVISING, SHUT THE HELL UP JAMIE! Thank you, anyway I will give you a sneak peak at Hiccup, and TWO chapters. That's right I'm spoiling you.**

**_Maybe he'll stop screwing around with british battleships pretending to be an admiral._**

**JAMIE!**

* * *

The turian ships where quite unique to human ships. Like all, the turian dreadnoughts where made of several main components. The largest of which was the main hull which extended for about 500 meters near the aft section. Extending from that, further back and above the main body was a pair of huge thrusters arranged in pylons which allowed a range of motion. Below them where a set of tailfins which allowed manouvrement in FTL, and allowed the ship to remain suspended in the upper atmosphere of a gas giant.

In front of this main segment was the main battery. The primary mass accelerator which could gut cruisers. It was sheltered between three long plates of armour which also played host to several radiators and shield generators, and in the bottom plate's case, the hangar bay. Suspended on either side of the main hull, and connected via massive hinges, where the two 'wings' which gave the craft it's bird-like designed. They hosted an additional pair of mass accelerators which where not only just as powerful as the main battery, but could be articulated with the wings. The dreadnought was certainly an imposing sight to behold as it dropped from FTL into the headquarters of the Archia Federation, Arcturus Station. While Director Viggo Grimborn preferred directing the nation from the Mars fleet shipyards. The grand council was stationed at Arcturus, which was relatively close to earth.

The entire turian fleet had been offered refuge at the de facto headquarters of the Archian Federation. The station itself was pretty standard. A massive set of revolving rings which where connected to a huge bulbous centrepiece which housed the main unit. The four connectors played host to a multitude of processing bays and orbital shipyards which made Arcturus an excellent place for fleet refits and starship construction. The outer ring had the station's habitat modules, and also played host to the massive array of PDCs which covered the station.

They wouldn't be very useful in an attack, however they where good for destroying stray rocks. No the main defence of the station came from the mighty fourth fleet led by Admiral Hackett, which floated serenely around the station. A clear sign that if anyone, or anything tried anything, they would be reduced to molten slag in an instant. This was reinforced by the various fighter bays, orbital defence platforms and even the stealth missile platforms which where placed strategically placed throughout the system. Aside from Sparta and Earth, Arcturus was likely the most heavily defended asset belonging to the Archian Federation.

As the turian cruiser neared one of the huge drydocks built into the inner ring, a pair of massive mechanical clamps, retrofitted for the dimensions of the bird-like craft, grabbed onto the flanks, and fixed it in position. A huge set of blast doors closed, and the room was flooded with oxygen and nitrogen. As the door on the side of hangar opened, Arterius found himself admiring the elegant architecture of the huge hangar. Despite the fact that his cruiser was one of the larger ships in the turian arsenal, there was still loads of room surrounding him. The bay could have probably fit a dreadnought if it wanted to.  
His guards tensed slightly as they watched what was obviously the leader of the Archia Federation stride towards them. He was relatively short, certainly shorter than the two men and the eight soldiers who surrounded them, with some of that facial fur male humans seemed to grow. Behind him, like with the human captain, was a dragon. This one a deep blue with slight sparks of electricity running from it's claws and a head fringe which was uncannily twitching about. _How many different species of dragon are there?_

"Admiral Arterius I presume?". The human held out a single hand, "Director Viggo Grimborn, Archian Federation". He shook it, "Pleasure to meet you mister Grimborn. Desolas Arterius. To my right is my brother. Saren Arterius". The smaller turian had a much smaller head fringe, and his plates where of a lighter colour, however he wore a suit of special forces armour, judging by the gleaming curves and symbols. He nodded, "To my right is Fleet Admiral Steven Hackett, and to my left is General Ryker Grimborn, my older brother". The admiral was nothing unusual, dressed in a similar attire to the captain from the first human ship they encountered, however the general was huge, built like a sanghelli and wore a very heavy looking set of armour, with spiked gauntlets. His head was shaved, and he carried an extremely sharp looking machete attached to his belt. Thank the spirits we aren't on their bad side.

He wouldn't find out how true this statement was until 1 week later, and it would be a statement which would shake the very foundations of the galaxy, for years to come.

**Freezing-to-Death**

Deep underground, a team of men worked tirelessly. Scanning the rock formations, running simulations of the local area. Checking, double-checking then triple-checking their calculations. Something was very wrong here. At the same time that First contact is made with another race, a lone energy signature only matched by a night fury flashes up on screens for a brief moment, then silence? No, if there's anything the Archians know, is that there is no such thing as a coincidence. Huge cryogenic lasers kept the artefact from thawing too quickly. Ensuring it would continue to stand at near absolute zero. Keeping what it hid contained within.

How, why or even when the artefact had arrived the scientists didn't know. But it had called out now, and they where working to extract it with no damage at all. Just the tiniest miscalculation would cause what was contained within to be destroyed, and with it would go one of the greatest discoveries of human and dragon kind. Dozens of supercomputers where spinning into life, checking down to the sub-atomic level that every little thing they did wouldn't cause the artefact to heat up.

The lead scientist was stood near the artefact. Staring at the smooth, aqua blue walls. Within he could see a vaguely human shaped object. Frozen in eternal sleep, or at least it had been for thousands of years. Amazing that such a specimen had made it this far into deep space. No-one was even sure how it ended up on Freezing-to-Death. Some said spirits, others said quantum mechanics. Of course the humans who where researching it would never know how it ended up here. Nor would others, missing for years who had found similar entities. But one thing was for sure, and that was what was contained within the ice.

As the researched chuckled at the serendipity of finding, the one aubern-haired human, who had started it. He was interrupted from his musing by a whine next to him. A black shape hunkered in the corner, staring longingly at the cube. "I know, but we'll have him out soon. But we need to do it right. And that means no mistakes, whatever it costs".

**DU9826-JYUH, Unknown Location, ERROR Radiation Levels at Maximum Measurable Levels**

Across the galaxy, within the galactic core itself. A never-ending miasma of neutron stars and black holes. There, sat the entity. Cold and dead. Completely undetectable by any means unless you where standing on it. Completely devoid of life. And yet, it felt something. A sense of stirring within itself. It was time again for it to happen. And so, as the stirring within itself rose, it began to prepare, watching and waiting. The vanguard had not failed, not yet. And it would not.

For the cycle had to continue.

**Codex Entry Updated: _Destiny Ascension _**_(_**_Ascension_ class Super-dreadnought)**  
At 2 kilometres tall and 1 kilometre long, with 'wings' 500 meters either way, the _Ascension_ class was the largest warship in the known galaxy until first contact with the Archia council. The first of it's class, the _Destiny Ascension_ was a joint turian-asari project just before the formation of the Asari empire and is one of the many regrets of the turian Heirarchy. The massive ship is one of the most powerful in the galaxy, mounting 4 Type-1A Dreadnought grade mass accelerator cannons, and 8 smaller Type 1B Battleship grade mass accelerator turrets the Ascension has firepower unrivalled by any ships which utilise the mass effect.

In addition to it's main guns, the Ascension has over 30 smaller calibre cruiser and frigate grade mass accelerator cannons built into it's broadside and as turrets, and the ship also sports an impressive defence grid of GUARDIAN Point defence laser cannons. Unlike the RAMPART or Haddock Series 40mm, GUARDIAN PDCs are built for their rate of fire and accuracy. (The RAMPART relies on accuracy and power while the 40mm is on rate of fire and networking) The lasers only use visible light making them far less powerful than RAMPART batteries, however this makes the _Ascension_ class a lethal close quarters combatant. Finally, the ship is also sporting 32 disruptor torpedo tubes for disabling enemy shields.

The hangar bay of the _Ascension_ class is quite large by asari standards, being able to carry 32 fighters and 16 interceptors as well as 30 shuttle craft and 12 gunships. The ascension also has docking ports allowing it to mount frigates and even corvettes (asari/turian definition of corvette as 10m recon craft) . Unlike the quarian liveship with has a more powerful main gun, but much weaker armour, the dreadnought is covered in asari-made silaris plating, a rare form of highly expensive armour which is second only to dragonium. The kinetic barriers of the asari dreadnought are weaker than a ship of it's size would suggest, however are no laughing matter, and courtesy of the ship's oversized drive core, the ship boasts stolen quarian blueprints for cyclonic barriers, revolving shields which increase redundancy.

The final feature of the _Ascension_ class is it's speed, like many asari ships the main engine is a single unit built into the center, and completely oversized compared to the ship's frame. It has led to some Archian ship-builders, military tacticians and anyone who has seen them to call them 'Holesome' due to the massive opened center section which houses the engine. While a Turian dreadnought can not beat the Ascension in an all out fight, a turian ship on a similar scale would likely have far more powerful kinetic barriers, though lose much of it's agility, and ability to move through systems at such an impressive rate.


	4. In the Shadow of Family

**_[Nonchalant whistling in background]_**

**Good day gentlemen and gentlewomen (or those of non-descript genders) here's another glorius summary of how much of a nerd I am, it would have come out sooner but I have a life and was occupied. I was busy with an interview at an engineering company so...**

**_And playing Stellaris_**

**It was a thirty minute session Jamie, and it was worth it, the Alterran Defence Initiative added a brand new Leonidas class Battleship to their mix, the ADIN Avescerala.**

**_RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT_**

**BE GONE JAMIE. Anyway, this chapter will focus on the other alien races of the galaxy, and introduce one of the characters who will be joining in much, much later. Throwaway for now, but keep in mind for later.**

* * *

**Destiny Ascension, Matriarch Lidanya**

Gently cruising through system DF0673 was the flagship of the asari fleet, the _Destiny Ascension_. At 1 kilometre long, 1 kilometre wide and 2 kilometres tall it was the second largest starship in known galactic history, beaten only by the quarian liveships of the quarian migrancy. That currently made Matriarch Lidanya the most powerful asari in the galaxy, commanding a state-of-the-art fleet of warships, which had already sent the cowards from the Turian Heirarchy running. Lidanya had a reputation among the asari people. Many saw her methods as barbaric or cruel, but she did whatever was necessary to achieve victory, even if that meant executing innocent civilians. Unlike the whiners within the Republican Asari, the representatives who wanted to end the war and bring back the status quo. Claiming that one day they would bite off more than they could chew.

No-one ever took the republicans seriously of course, mainly because they had completely overwhelmed pretty much every power in the galaxy. The sanghelli where already weakened and fell easily, though their entire home system was under quarantine, as they had shown to be much harder to break, and some of the more extreme leaders wanted to glass the planet. The salarians had fallen within weeks. Being primarily a nation focused on espionage, they had not been equipped for all out war and their warships where laughable compared to the empire. The Hanar, Elcor, Kig-yar and Romulans had fallen soon after, having been much weaker than the empire and surrendering willingly. With the exception of the Romulans, who where already a protectorate of the empire.

The quarians on the other hand, had completely disappeared. The fifty thousand vessels of the migrant fleet being completely missing from all of known space. It made sense, considering they probably had some of the most detailed star charts of all the races. Not even the pilgrims, those selected to bring back something of value to the fleet had been seen within asari space. As if the thieves and vagrants didn't deserve to be put down anyway.  
"Admiral, reports from the third exploration flotilla say that the relay is empty". Her head snapped round, "Define: Empty".

"No ships, no debris, not even a sign of element zero". She rose and turned on the young matron. "What did the long range scanners pick up". She raised the datapad and avoided the elder asari's gaze. "S- Scanners picked up several planets and a single deactivated mass relay, completely dormant". She snatched the datapad from her hands, "Are you sure the relay was deactivated?".

"P- Positive, no mass effect fields detected". As she perused the data, something caught her eye. "You said no element zero detected at all?". She shook her head vigorously. "No matriarch".

"As in none, not even a molecule?".

"None at all, even near the mass relay". Lidanya laughed, cackled more like. "Then we know exactly where they've gone". She handed the datapad back.

"Sir?".

"Tell me, what's odd about those eezo readings?".

"Umm, I don't see anything odd, except-".

"Wrong. None detected at all? Even the most far flung systems from supernovae have trace amounts of eezo in. The only way to get rid of eezo is using a specialised magnetic field. In-other words, nothing natural". The pieces began to fall together for the lieutenant.

"And if there's nothing there at all, they obviously cleaned up their trails and any exhaust".

"Exactly. They obviously have some sort of outpost or colony we didn't know about through that region, and had them remove any traces. Amateurs. Do they know anything about element zero?".

The lieutenant placed the datapad back on her belt. "Orders ma'am?".

"Take the whole fleet through, and prepare to activate the dormant relay". The matron looked completely dumbfounded, "But sir, activating a dormant mass relay is forbidden, especially after the Rachni wars, and-".

"The treaty of Firaxen was obviously ignored by the Turians, who had no choice but to go through the relay, so we will do the same". She retook her seat. "Carry out my orders lieutenant".

"Yes sir".

* * *

**QMFV _Rayya_, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya**  
The number one priority of a quarian, is duty to the fleet. No matter what, their only purpose is to serve to keep the persistent hand of entropy at bay. To keep the 17 million people who where the only remnants of an entire species, aside from the mechanical creations which exiled them, to exist. And as such, everything about their culture amounted to the fleet. Their sociability ensured that the different clans and people who made up their collective where completely dedicated. Their government consisted of 5 admirals, each leading a different part of the fleet. Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay for the Patrol fleet, Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema for the heavy fleet, Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Quib-Quib commanded the heavy fleet, and Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh commanded the special projects fleet. However it wouldn't be very informative if I didn't mention the lead admiral. The de-facto leader of the quarian fleet, and the possibly one of the most intelligent men in the rag-tag collection of fifty thousand ships.

Fleet Admiral Rael'Zorah vas Alerei. Born years earlier, Zorah had went on his pilgrimage back before the asari had turned back. He pushed through blatant racism and prejudice. Working through it all alongside Han'Gerrel till they managed to come back aboard a shiny new cruiser. The ship, which was now the flagship of the heavy fleet, was currently still functioning, as was the case for anything the quarians used as a space platform, but the men who retrieved it where seen as heroes and example quarians to be praised. Currently sat onboard the Rayya, was seventeen year old quarian Tali'Zorah nar Rayya.

Daughter of Rael'Zorah.

This was it, she was ready to head out on her pilgrimage throughout turian and free mercenary space and bring back something to the fleet. One of the most important parts of the pilgrimages was to bring back something. Whether it be a new and exciting piece of technology, a huge crate of valuable (extremely valuable) raw materials or even an entire starship, every quarian underwent this rite of passage into adulthood. Some found a home out in the vastness of the galaxy, choosing to remain steadfast, others disappeared, often thought dead or sold into slavery. But the overwhelming majority returned with a gift of some sort.

As daughter of the fleet's leader, she had extremely high expectations placed on her. Just last week a young pilgrim by the name of Jar'Transen nar Rayya (Now Jar'Transen vas Iktomi) had brought home a turian assault frigate, with a cargo hold full of welding equipment. The ship was repurposed into a carrier, the equipment used onboard the Shellen (one of the migrant fleet's seven liveships) to reinforce damage control parties, ensuring that the massive farms of the quarian migrancy continued functioning. Otherwise the 17 million survivors would be at risk of starvation.

She clutched her small bag of belongings containing some credits, enough nutrient paste for several months, and several suit patches closer to her chest. She had debated taking a pistol from the armoury, but one of the marine contingents like Kal'Reegar might need it. So she instead elected for the sharp and efficient dagger hidden in her boot. Her suit was adorned with the purple swirls of clan Zorah, and she wore a slightly scratched helmet to keep the air from escaping. Three centuries in space had left the quarians with pyjacks for immune systems, and just the tiniest exposure to any air let alone turian or quarian air could give her a dangerous infection. Only in clean rooms, could the suits be removed safely.

The doors at the end of the docking clamp slid open, revealing a small corvette. A 10 meter long craft designed for transport and scouting, though in the fleet many where fitted with a single guardian laser under the Gerrel Protocol. "No going back now", she heard Keenah'Breizh nar Shellen ask. Keenah was a childhood friend, while they rarely saw each other due to her moving around the fleet a lot, he had been the son of a hydroponics engineer on the Shellen. They had chosen to both do their pilgrimage together, and had managed to convince the admiralty to let them borrow a corvette to reach a major travel hub. Rather than being dropped at the next habitable system.

"Tali.". She heard a feminine sigh from behind and turned to see the maroon and technocratic shapes of clan Raan. "Auntie Raan!". She rugged to the elder quarian hugging her. Tali's mother had died from a disease outbreak when she was younger, and as an Admiral, she rarely saw her father, that didn't seem to stop Raan from taking care of her though, who had to lead a fleet herself, it was a rather bitter topic for Tali. "I couldn't let you go on the most important journey of your life without a goodbye hug". She chuckled, "Thank you Shala, at least you have the care to come and see me". Even through the mask, she could see the narrowing of the eyes, "He still onboard the Alerei?"

"Yes, sent me an official goodbye vid though. Was very... formal", she said sarcastically. Raan could only sigh at the mans stupidity, "Tali, you know he loves you in his own way, but he's stuck on the dream of building you a house on the homeworld, and... he sent me to give you this as well". She fumbled with a small box and handed it to her. "He wishes you luck, and knows you will do well". She mumbled under her breath and opened the box, being careful to preserve the material. But when the top lifted, it clattered to the ground. "That's..."

"A Mk IV Sirta foundation Nexus!", filled in Keenah. "Those things are like, 1300 credits at best!". She fixed the implant to her hand and brought up the interface. It flickered into life almost immediately, with a sharp tone, and the OS was far in excess of her older model omnitool. "Kheelah, where did he get this?".

"See? He does care for you more than you think. He just has difficulty showing it". She handed the box back, "Tell him thank you Shala, and... goodbye". The admiral nodded, before saluting, "Kheelah Se'lai Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, and Keenah'Breizh nar Shellen. And may the ancestors guide and protect you".

She entered the airlock, "You too Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, Kheelah Se'lai".

The doors closed with a whir.

* * *

**Former Citadel Council Ship classifications**  
Fighter - Small and manoeuvrable, a fighter is a multi-role platform designed to escort boarding craft, and support planetary invasions. Despite this they are also used in a bombing role, and they are often seen in small squadrons and used to destroy enemy corvettes and frigates.

Interceptor - Much larger than fighters, but still smaller than corvettes, interceptors are variants of fighters designed purely for an anti-missile and anti-strike craft role. They are tough, resilient and well-armed, though sometimes lack manoeuvrability.

Corvette - Usually 10 meters in length and a few meters wide, corvettes are fast and agile ships designed for scouting and troop deployment. They often lack any defensive weapons, and are commonly fitted with heat-proof plating and radar-absorbent coating to be hidden from technological detection.

Frigate - A large size jump between corvettes and cruiser, frigates range between 80 and 300 meters, with larger asari models reaching 400 meters wide. They are cheap and inexpensive, designed to operate in wolfpacks. They have a focus on point defence grids and forward facing spinal weapons.

Destroyer - A unique design to the turians, destroyers are similar in size to frigates, but have a focus entirely on damage and attack, carrying heavy weapons for anti-capital engagements

Cruiser - Cruisers are versatile and reliable. They vary in length between 800 and 400 meters and carry a small number of strike craft. While common throughout council space, they often lack the impressive resilience seen in larger ships.

Battleship - With a focus entirely on a large number of broadside mounted, high calibre guns, battleships are often used alongside cruisers and frigates to lead assaults. They are much more powerful than their smaller cousins, but lack agility and versatility.

Dreadnought - The dreadnoughts are the main flagships of the council. Stretching between 1000 and 3000 meters, they are similar in design to cruisers, carrying a high level of versatility, but much heavier kinetic barriers. This makes them almost unassailable without having a dreadnought yourself, the common example being that turians have often said the only way to beat a dreadnought is to have the bigger gun and get ready to run.

Something the Archian Federation proved during Operation: Uppercut


	5. The Pillar of Autumn

So I've received a few reviews, and I will be putting the replies below, next to the name. Sorry if I miss it.

_Not really, he hates the ones he doesn't reply to_

That is un-true. Those who have never made a mistake, have never learned something new

_You stole that quote didn't you_

Yeah, Einstein I think. Anyway...

**G} Not sure what you mean by that. I have yet to find a decent HTTYD with a sci fi twist. And yes, I realise which series the aliens are predominantly from. But if anyone wants a series or movie to be featured. PM me and I will see about adding it. Even something like... Castle, or even Brooklyn-99**

**Calvin} Sorry to burst ya bubbles, I really should clarify this, but these events have taken place just after hidden world. Like months after, so Zephr and Nuffink are not in it yet. However they may make an appearance..., eventually ;)**

_Really... You're leaving it at that_

I don't want to spoil the story.

_Yeah right_

Hey Jamie, guess who dies in season 3 of The Expanse

_SHUT UP! I ONLY JUST HIT EPISODE 2 OF SEASON 3_

HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

* * *

"Freezing-to-Death this is _Pillar of Autumn_, requesting permission to burn to the mass relay, I'm picking up some odd readings.

"_Solid Copy Pillar of Autumn, edit course for relay flyby, 120,000 kilometres_"

"We copy Freezing-to-Death. We'll be passing behind the gas giant and in visual blackout for the next 48 minutes"

"_This is Freezing-to-Death understood_".

The _Pillar of Autumn_ rotated slowly, it's RCS thrusters pushing the bulk round, before it stilled, and the blue glow of it's Epstein drive began to rise. Throughout the decks of the ship, crewmen strapped themselves into acceleration chairs, and dragons did the same with their own stasis tanks which put them into temporary cryogenic stasis. Unlike the fragile human bodies which needed a huge amount of time to recover, dragon bodies could recover in minutes from the effects of cryogenic stasis, which was needed to keep them from suffering stroke or worse during the high g burn.

The Epstein drive roared loudly throughout the ship, and charged Pions where accelerated at relativistic speeds out of the back of the drive, as the ship changed it's course. The total travel time of the journey was remarkably short, just a 40 minute hop to the anomaly. As it neared, high intensity scanners began painting the entire area with radiation, looking for the slightest change.

"Sir, there's nothing on the active or passive scanners, but there's something odd".

"Go ahead".

"There's a gravitational anomaly near the relay. It's about 4000 kilometres to our port".

"Verify"

"Copy that sir". The man pressed several buttons, "Definitely something there, whatever it is, it's about the mass of a corvette".

Captain Katherine Beckett crossed her arms, "Bring us within 1500 kilometres and open up with LIDAR".

"Aye sir". The ship fired it's Epstein drive slightly, editing the course. And soon after they had passed within a relative hairs breadth. "Firing LIDAR now".

On the outside of the ship, medium power ranging projectors lit up, firing Ultraviolet photons towards the anomalies. Within nanoseconds, it had got a full scan of the object.

"It's a starship. Stealth by the lack of passive emissions". She growled slightly under her breath, "Asari stealth scout, they're probing the system. Tightbeam them". He flicked a switch.

"This is the ASW _Pillar of Autumn_, You have entered space belonging to the Archian Federation. Please divert away from the system and await for a diplomatic convoy". The ship didn't respond, not moving at all.

"Did they receive that?".

"Aye sir, it was in Turian, they must have received it". She noted the curving shapes of the hull, the completely dark outer hull. "Repeat message and give em a love tap". The lieutenant chuckled. "Givin' em a love tap".

The 'Love Tap' was the typical term used for the high energy ranging laser. Unlike LIDAR, the ranging laser was a blue laser beam, which allowed an impressive level of accuracy, but sacrificed subtly. "Still nothing Ma'am". She marched towards another console. "Weapons, get me a missile lock". The young officer at the station pressed a deep red button. "Target locked". Perhaps the crewmen onboard the ship where blind. Perhaps they thought the _Pillar of Autumn _still couldn't see them, or perhaps they where simply dense, but never-the-less, the ship didn't seem to care that it currently had about 6 torpedoes locked and loaded on it's hull. "Give them a warning shot with the railgun".

On the nose of the ship. Current travelled from a bank of capacitors into a huge rail of metal. As the electrons transferred from molecule to molecule, it created a rotating magnetic field, which directed a Lorentz force parallel to the direction of the rails, propelling a heavy Teflon coated tungsten slug to several hundred kilometres per second. The slug passed within 12 kilometres of the scout ship, and soon after it obviously noticed this. "Unknown ship heave-to now and allow boarding teams aboard".

It's engines lit up like a Snoggletog tree, and it attempted to burn hard for the relay. "Disable them".

"Understood". Three tiny projectiles, the size of a human arm dropped from the flanks of the frigate. An engine which was hugely powerful for a projectile of it's size exploded into action, pushing them forward at a force which would have eviscerated any organic beings. The projectiles sped up, going for the frigate, and automatic tracking algorithms caused the torpedo to zig-zag unpredictably around, making it harder to hit.

On the outside of the scout, several small lasers extended from the hull, and began firing pulses towards the incoming missile, attempting to take it down. Two of the three missiles exploded, however the third slammed into the rear of the scout with unprecedented force. The designers of the ship had assumed that any missiles fired at the ship would be primarily focused on tearing the armour and shields apart, so when a high temperature burst of plasma washed over the ship, it's kinetic barriers did not even attempt to stop the heat. The hull plates melted from the heat, and molten metal spilled into one of the fuel tanks, causing it to explode violently, tearing the rear of the ship apart, and causing it to lose three of it's four thrusters.

The force of the explosion caused it fly forward, and tendrils of energy from the mass relay pulled the crippled ship into it's grasp, accelerating it forward. Within moments, the scout had disappeared from the system, an the deck of the Pillar of Autumn was in chaos.

"I said disable it, not blow up it's engines".

"Sir the plasma torpedoes where only at half power"

"Run a diagnostic on the weapons control station, and contact Freezing-to-Death".

"Aye sir".

She wiped off a sheen of sweat which had started to show. "Take us through the relay, we need to keep the situation from escalating". They nodded, and the Epstein drive pushed them forward, straight towards the object.

**Freezing-to-Death**  
"What the hel is going on?!". The room was in chaos and dozens rushed around. "The _Pillar of Autumn_ fired a salvo of torpedoes at the unknown contact, and they retreated after the torpedoes where far more effective than we could have anticipated". General Williams, commanding officer of the Freezing-to-Death garrison and defence fleet finished buttoning up his uniform, before taking in the few commanding officers in the room. "Cancel shore leave, and prep the Stilletos for action immediately". He approached the command table, where is Second-in-command, Jack Harper was stood. "Jack tell the defence fleet to fall back to the platforms and have them prep for combat. Let's try and get a message to Earth ASAP". He saluted, before turning away. Williams could only sigh as the beeping red dot of the _Pillar of Autumn_ got nearer to the Mass Relay. "Thor help us".

**ARSS ****_Destiny Ascension_****, Fleet Admiral Lidanya, Asari Empire**  
"Contact, unknown ship, cruiser weight. Unknown silhouette". Similar to it's human counterparts, the entire fleet was in chaos. Thousands of people rushed around, loading disruptor torpedoes and mass driver slugs into their firing tubes. "Armedis damn these people. Tell Frigate-S07 and S11 to close within KFR now". The two frigates used their element zero catalysed thrusters to near the vessel, being much more agile and quick to accelerate than the heavier human cruiser, something which the Asari did not know. "Receiving hail from the unknown cruiser".

She paused, "Onscreen".

An image appeared, obviously broadcast from the vessel. It depicted some sort of CiC. In the background, several people where sat at low-tech computer moniters. And there where even a few lizards sat throughout the CiC. _What kind of warship allows pets onboard?_ The person speaking, obviously the captain, wore a navy blue uniform with gold embroideries of her rank and name. She carried a clearly visible sidearm. And she had long brown hair which was pulled back into a bundle behind her head. All-in-all, she looked quite similar to an Asari. When she spoke, it was translated directly to Asari, meaning the unknowns had quite probably acquired the translation data from the turians. "_This is Captain Katherine Beckett of the Archian Federation Warship, the Pillar of Autumn. You are encroaching on sovereign human space. We apologise for the damage done to your scout frigate, but should you choose to enter human space, we will fight back. Please hold position and await a diplomatic convoy_".

She slammed a fist down on her command chair. The nerve of these primitives to demand such a thing. _They injured several asari and for what? For us to lay down our weapons? No, this requires something only barbarians understand... force_. "I want that cruiser boarded immediately".  
The two Asari frigates neared the human cruiser. Their eezo engines allowing them to actually close distance to just 12 kilometres. "Firing harpoon". A rocket propelled breaching charge attached to a high-strength polymer projected from one of the frigates. But almost immediately, the point defence guns on the human ship opened fire. Hundreds of Teflon coated rounds where propelled via chemical ignition, and many struck the harpoon, causing it to lose velocity, and become useless. The human ship obviously did not appreciate this, and fired a shot from it's own railgun over the port bow of an asari frigate.

"_Unknowns are firing, weapons free_". Before anyone could react, both frigates opened up with a full salvo of disruptor torpedoes. The guided rockets lanced forth, and where almost immediately fired upon by the same PDC systems of the human ship, which struck down 9 of the 12 missiles, however the final three al struck the rear hull, creating swirling vortexes which sucked several PDCs from their holdings, and tore off a piece of armour. In retaliation, the human frigate swivelled round, took aim at frigate number S07, and fired. A high mass tungsten projectile lanced out from the human ship's railgun, and almost immediately struck the asari ship. Had the projectile been travelling at half a percent of lightspeed or been larger than a human, then the kinetic barriers onboard the asari ship may have activated, and stopped it, but the heavy tungsten slug was ignored, and the side armour of the asari ship took the full force of the railgun round.

The sharpened point almost immediately caused the armour plate it hit to buckle, and resulted in the entire ship jolting as though being slammed into by an asteroid. The round continued through, completely ignoring the armour, and tearing the hull plating apart as though it was paper. Of the 24 decks onboard the ship, 19 where exposed to vacumn as the round ripped through, killing several crewmembers, who found themselves with a fist sized hole in their bodies. After striking bulkhead number 20, it lodged itself in the wall. The frigate was left floating on it's side, almost crippled by the round. The ship took note of this, and very soon it's PDCs had let loose a storm of rounds. The rounds where once again not even registered by the Kinetic barriers, and a lucky round penetrated the main reactor, causing the deuterium to spill out into the vacuum of space, shutting down the reactor, and leaving it dead in the water.

The asari slugs faired just as well against the Archian armour, when the frigate fired all three of it's spinal guns at the vessel. The asari shells where much denser, and about half the mass, however they where condensed into an object the size of a coin. When they hit the armour of the human ship, which was designed to dissipate explosive force, they passed straight through the armour, leaving holes. In fact the first two shells went in one end, and straight out the other, causing two decks to be exposed to vacuum. The third struck managed to nick one of the reactor power cables leaving the ship without any manoeuvring power, or energy to it's railgun, and Beckett ordered the lights across the ship, to be shut off, before evacuating her crew to the escape shuttle.

"The unknowns have docked, cameras show dozens of marines moving throughout the ship".

She nodded, "Launch all escape pods and activate the distress beacons". The pod jerked, sending them forward, and she turned to her Night Terror, which was whimpering at the darkened pod. "Shhh, we'll be alright Smokey". She retrieved a small blue pad, "Viva la Federation".

She pressed it.

Onboard the _Pillar of Autumn_, several nanograms of antimatter met it's normal matter cousins. The resulting heat caused a nuclear fusion reaction twenty-five times the manufacturers intended survival yield to strike the outer hull of the reactor. It held, barely. But the reactor let loose another full load of deuterium, and this time there was no containing the 12 megaton bomb that was the fusion reactor as it expulsed outward with the power of a star. Turning the nearby transports into a steadily expanding cloud of metal vapour. "Sir the unknown contacts have sent several transport-boats towards us and the others. Orders?".

"Drop weapons, we surrender ourselves. They ain't getting any of our tech, not with our ship and their marines currently reduced to elementary particles". The ensign laughed, and the nervousness many of the crewmen and women surrounding her caused them to find the statement hilarious, as the prospect of spending time in an alien prison didn't sound inviting.

* * *

**Codex Entry: Contingencies**  
Spring Contingency: Peaceful first contact has been recorded. The starships and people involved are rigorously tested to ensure they are not under threat or have not bee influenced in any way. Admiralty prepares for possible war, but takes no aggressive actions.

Summer Contingency: First contact has occurred between warships, and what could be seen as hostile actions have been carried out. For Example, a Stealth warship probing Archian lines and gathering scan data. A large unknown fleet gathering at the borders. During the Summer Contingency the Admiralty calls for the withdrawal of deep space patrols.

Autumn Contingency: Hostile enemy has been encountered. Colonies may be put under siege, or warships have been fired upon with clear hostile intent. All battlefleets are mobilised and colonies are put on high alert. Civilian traffic is severely limited with all ships being inspected for unknown technologies.

Winter Contingency: Extinction level threat. Colonies fall in succession and enemy shows no mercy to civilians or military personnel. All fleets recalled to Earth and Luna. Reserve military forces are pulled into use, and evacuation of high-importance civilians to cryo-pods onboard starships begins. If the threat is too great, the ships begin a several billion light year journey to the Andromeda Galaxy in order to save humanity and the dragon species.

Hackett-Protocol: To prevent advanced military technologies from falling into the hands of the enemy, all militaristic and the civilian FTL technology is fitted with micro-self destruct modules, or in the case of military vessels, a several megaton antimatter-catalysed nuclear device.


	6. Update 1

Hi Everyone, sorry for the fakeout chapter. But I am just uploading this chapter to alert you that I now have a Deviant Art account. This account will have all of the teasers for How To Train Your Dragon: Battlefront and any other stories I may or may not be writing, as well as several downloadable pictures which you can use as a desktop, or possibly as a laptop cover.

Anyway, thanks if you could be bothered to read this, (trust me I struggle to not skip the reader updates for every new chapter of the fanfictions I read) and I will see ya next time.

_You mean images you photoshopped._

Jamie...

_Shutting Up_

My deviant art account: Atomicsub, look for the Donnager class Battleship (Same as my fanfiction site)


	7. Paradigm Shift

Owww my stomach. Wait... why can't I remember anything from last night? I mean, its dark, and there's a laptop, but this doesn't look like my bedro- ,high tech writing booth... Ahh well, I'm sure its nothing...

_(He's still hungover, so please forgive any mistakes, I'm finding his pitiful attempts at writing amusing)_

* * *

An electron, the building block of atoms, slowly moved across a long string of metal. The sub-atomic particle created, simply by it's existence, an electromagnetic field which was added to the total field created by multiple other electrons, all in parallel with each other. The virtual photons, which constantly interacted with other particles within the field, created a rotation in the field, directing upward away from the wire, and completely perpendicular to the plane at which the current was on. In conjunction with this, a Lorentz force was created proportional to the huge amperage put through the wire and armature. This force actually pushed the armature forward, ending with the tungsten slug travelling at a velocity that would have broken the sound barrier on earth several times over. The metal was flung through empty space, until it slammed with huge force into a silaris plate. The impact caused the plate to dislodge, and soon after the slug had lodged halfway in the ship, and sent a dozen asari flying into the void, as one of the orbital gun platforms fired its weapon, decapitating an asari frigate.

The platform next to that followed suite, striking from far beyond normal range, and hit the same frigate, causing it to disappear with a gentle flash, as the several dozen kilogram slug impacted with the force of a high yield weapon into the main reactor core. The defence fleet was completely outnumbered. So they where using every weapon they had available. With the exception of the planetary defence silos which where being saved as a trump card, all of the ships in orbit where being readied for battle. Except corvette C23. C23 was currently making a break for the edge of the system to warn high command of the incursion. As it neared the final planet, it's FTL drive began spooling up, giving it a slight glow, and causing the light rays to enter blue shift. But giving away it's position. In particular, one of the stealth ships took note of the corvette, which was well out of range of the main fleet, but by a stroke of remarkable astronomical luck, was within dangerously close quarters combat.

The captain of the stealth frigate, ordered all power into the spinal accelerator. An iron slug was accelerated from the barrel at a speed which would have made it impact with the force of a fuel air bomb, and as it tore through the delicate machinery onboard the corvette, it nicked a power cable, causing the FTL drive to shut down, and leaving the corvette without power, as the frigate descended on the wreckage. The ship activated it's self-destruct drive, obliterating the corvette, and scorching the hull of the frigate, to within a percentage of it's tolerance.

Meanwhile around the planet. The two fleets finally clashed. The Archia ships knew they where vastly outranged by the asari ships, and opted to enter knife fight range with the ships. The various delicately built vessels of the asari suddenly found themselves in brutal knife fight ranges. With Teflon-coated tungsten rounds filling the air with a hail of metal shards, which ignored their kinetic barriers completely, being neither big nor fast enough. The Archia corvettes all surrounded one of the six battleships. Their railguns tore fist sized holes in the vessel, and their PDCs littered the armour with bullet-holes and dents. When a nuclear torpedo found itself lodged in the already damaged vessel's armour, the wave of thermal energy vaporised the armour and much of the crew. The blast wave struck the bulkheads with twenty times the manufacturers specifications, crushing the marines onboard, and killing dozens as the noise expulsion burst their eardrums. Soon after, the ship exploded with a glare, spreading metal chunks and glowing hot material across the battlefield.

A cruiser found itself rammed by a frigate. The impact causing both ships to explode in a flurry as not only the point defences, but their own crewmen opened fire with everything they had, leaving both ships a slowly exploding cloud of debris. The battle only lasted 23 minutes. By the time the Archia fleet had been destroyed. The asari had lost a battleship, 3 cruisers, 18 frigates, and a battlecruiser was severely damaged. The humans had lost 3 frigates, 8 corvettes and 4 Stilleto orbital gun platforms, as well as a pair of missile emplacements. The anchorage in orbit was spared from the destruction, having been sheltered in the L4 Lagrange point between Freezing-to-Death, and it's binary sister.

For now it remained unseen. Hidden by shutting off it's main reactor, and the radar reflective coating which was painted on the outer hull. But the brave workers onboard prepared for retaliation. They where patient. They had control over the Hofferson pattern Heavy Railgun turret on the ventral side, and they knew the fleet would be here, it was only a matter of time.

* * *

**Freezing-to-Death Aerial Patrol, 7:20 AM, 'The Meatgrinder'**

Miles away from the colony, a pair of nadders zoomed overhead. Their riders constantly scanning for incoming threats. As they pulled across the southern ice fields, their radios crackled, "_Patrol Beta, report in, over_".

Commander Yao grabbed hold of her comm unit, "Copy that Home One, just finished a pass over the southern ice fields. Nothing unusual".

"_Command picked up several strange energy signatures near the south-western cave systems. We have an archaeology team there working on a very important artefact. Double time it and Head down to reinforce them in case something bad happens. We're having trouble with the comm units here_".

"What kind of artefact sir?".

"_Not sure, but they marked it as Priority One, so clearly its important to the higher ups_".

"Orders received and understood Home One, heading to the caves now". She shut off the communicator and turned to her partner, Paul Kelly. "Kelly, fancy a race? first one to the southwestern caves?".

"Yeah okay. 321 GO!". He kicked into full gear, his Nadder Sharpjaw tearing into action. "HEY!". She accelerated forth on her own Nadder racing forth at a similar velocity, traying to catch up to Kelly and Sharpjaw.

"Come on Donnie, we can do this". Donnie squawked, and doubled his efforts, pushing on with everything he had. She spotted Sharpjaw up ahead, he was almost invisible against the meltwater of Freeing-to-Death. "There he is, come on Don, one last push". With every ounce of energy they had, Donnie pushed on, and they overtook Sharpjaw. "See ya at the finish liune, sucker!". They roared down, drawing up a cloud of dust and rock as she landed. "Good boy. Who's a good boy", she began scratching Donnie under his chin, revelling in her victory. "Commander, permission to speak freely?".

"Do it, you never listen anyway". He held a hand up to his chest in mock hurt, "I will have you know that I always listen to orders from a superior". She rolled her eyes, "Anyway, do you know what's down here, because-". He didn't get a chance to finish as a something clunked into the ground next to him. Yao recognised the shape immediately, though the design was unfamiliar. But some things where universal. "GRENADE!". She dove to the ground as an explosion of earth and rock rained down on them. Bullets began striking the ground in front of them, bringing up pillars of rock and dust. "Weapons free". She, Kelly and the few other soldiers which where already here, began opening fire with their weapons. The thin blue beams lancing out into the now huge dust cloud.

She raised her shield projector and activated it, creating a blue barrier which stopped enemy fire from striking her armour plating. "Kelly! I need a grenade", she yelled, pointing to a large group of flashes from the fog, which was obviously group of enemies. He nodded, grabbing one of his own canisters and loading it onto a handheld catapult (basically a small coilgun), "grenade out". The canister bounced out, striking the unknown group, and they had a half second of terrified, alien sounding screams, before a loud shockwave propagated out from the cloud, turning whoever was in the general vicinity into a cloud of vapour. The fire began to die down now, and Yao raised her axe with a war cry. "FOR THE FEDERATION!". She leapt forward, her shields eclipsing the fire from hitting her.

Through the fog, she could see the flaming remnants of an alien vehicle, with several dead alien soldiers lying around it. She swung her axe down, onto an enemy soldier. The blade sliced straight through the weakened kinetic barriers, and cut into the alien's head, another hostile down. Through the cloud, she could see her comrades doing the same, striking down the aliens with a war cry which would make any Viking proud. "YAO LOOK OUT". She turned, only to see a blue fist make contact with her head, jarring her nose. Instantly, red blood dripped out, but she grappled with the attacked, pushing her back and kicking her in the stomach (or where the stomach should be).

The alien raised a knife, drawing it across her leg, and she cried out in pain. As the thing raised the knife to finish the job. A deathly streak leapt out from the shadows, and a blue ball eviscerated the alien. All around them, a flurry of growls leapt out as one-by-one, a menacing shriek brought character to the grey battlefield, before a blue glow signified the death of another soldier. As the smoke cleared, she could see a black beast tearing the asari apart. The bat-like wings where raised in an attempt to make itself more intimidating. Shots of a concentrated Acetane-Oxygen mix pulverised aliens, and vice-like jaw strength meant the end of any who got to close. There was only one beast who matched with such a powerful creature. "Night Fury...".

Without warning, a pair of aircraft dropped overhead, and she heard Donnie give a shriek of warning. She dodged sideways, narrowly missing a flurry of bullets, and raised her shields. They held, causing blue flashes as bullet-after-bullet struck the energy fields. The Night Fury roared, charging up its mouth and sending a blue projectile lancing into the hovercraft. The explosion resulted in its engine to being streaming black smoke. And it drunkenly pranced about for a moment, before slamming into the ground. But the luck ran out there. A large weapon was raised from the shuttle, and a pair of metallic tongs struck the gentle creature. Blue arcs of electricity, more intense than she had ever seen began racing over the creature, in a perfect sphere. A stasis field.

She tried to race forward, in an attempt to cut the cables, but a flurry of gunfire covered the ground in front of her, and she ducked. "KELLY, THE NIGHT FURY!".

"Got It!". He raised his sword, firing pulses of energy towards the shuttle, but a stray bullet pierced his torso, causing him to collapse as the night fury was hauled into the sky by a pair of shuttles. The shuttles escorting by odd, praying-mantis like gunships. "NOOOOO!". Yao screamed to the sky.

Night Furies where incredibly rare. They did exist obviously, but finding one was nigh impossible. Some reports suggested as little as 67 Night Furies existed in the wild, and further 93 in the feared Fury Corps. They where even more intelligent than Bewilderbeasts, able to communicate with each other and those who where gifted enough psionically. Psionic beings where few and far between. Night Furies had some of the most powerful abilities, followed closely by Light Furies (a distant cousin of the Night Fury) and obviously their offspring, Night Lights, which benefitted from the offensive and defensive capabilities of their parents.

Still the strength of a Night Fury meant that they could only lay eggs at one point in their life, and only a couple. Their eggs took years to develop, and where incredibly vulnerable while developing. Anyone who had been found to kill a night fury or experiment on one was executed, as they where the only dragons capable of communicating with humans. (Exclusively their riders).

The smoke finally began to clear from the battlefield, revealing a war torn area. Several humans and dragons lay dead on the ground. An Image which would forever be burned into her mind. Several stuck out. A young nightmare, still hunched over his rider, who had taken a shot to the head. A scauldron, blow apart by a grenade, leaving a slowly expanding pool of blue blood. A pair of Terrors, executed by the look of their wounds, the trainer sobbing over their bodies. A bond between a human and dragon was a truly wonderful thing, but it was unlikely that either the human or dragon would find another, if their counterpart was killed or died. Many times, the death of the rider meant the death of the dragon. Or if it where the other way round, the rider would often lose all faith. Some had even taken their own lives, particularly back during the pirate suppression campaign.

"Commander!". She turned to see a small squad of soldiers approaching, their dragons behind them, standing proudly. "What are your orders?". She sighed, "We need to-". A slightly nasally voice interrupted them. They turned to see a young man, probably 21. With tousled auburn coloured hair, and deep black armour. He held a flaming sword in one hand, and a silvery shield emblazoned with the insignia for strike class. Everyone recognised the man. From legends back in time.

From when the dragons returned to humanity, and Notteinfari had shared what had transpired thousands of years in the past. Events which where taught in primary school.

"W... Where's Toothless?".

* * *

**Codex Entry: Weapons**  
Most weapons in the Federation have two main components, the energy staff, and the plasma blade. Keeping with a tradition of striking fear into the hearts of the enemy, most soldiers carry a dual-purpose assault weapon with two main modes. The first is a blade with a plasma tipped edge, capable of cutting through any military armour, and eviscerating any poort organic or metallic beings which attack the soldier. The second is the staff itself. Using a micro-fusion reactor, the staff propels superheated balls of gas at relativistic speeds. In simplistic terms, all ranged ground weapons within the Archian Federation are plasma-based weapons.

The main reason why these are not employed in space, is that the ranges involved, are too great for a magnetic field to sustain the plasma, with the exception of the standard plasma torpedoes. On the ground however, the rifles fire plasma at much higher velocities, making them exceedingly difficult to avoid. While they are affected by kinetic barriers, (standard planetary assault-grade kinetic barriers are much more sensitive to kinetic energy) this often does not help, as the intense heat is unhindered, and in some cases, has led to the energy 'cooking' the enemies inside their own armour.

Most soldiers use their energy lances in combat, but switch to their close range weapons, as all personnel are trained in a variety of marshal arts. Axes in particular are fairly common. The double or single edged blade is often useful for cutting open vehicles aswell, and all micro-fusion batteries carry enough fuel (once ignited) for up to 12 months of operation, or dozens of shots from a plasma lance. (The lances are often limited by the readily available atmosphere).

Other than dual-purpose weaponry, the average foot soldier also carries a Mk IV shield array. These shields are unable to be mounted on spacecraft, as they are exponentially more power-hungry as size increases (meaning that the entire spacecraft would need to be a reactor). The Mk IV uses a more powerful micro-fusion battery which can keep them powered for days on end. The shield arrays are not one-way, and block shots from either direction, while also acting as a completely solid material. This makes them effective against energy weapons as well as projectiles. Modified and more compact versions exist, and the largest known shields are mounted on the 'Shieldmaiden' class Main Battle Tank


	8. Back to the Butcher

Guess what?

_Chicken butt_

Jamie what are you on? No, this story now has a playlist! I know right, well the songs can be downloaded from my google drive account. I will leave a link below. Just play the required songs when it says, and trust me when I says it increases the immersion. Mostly involves songs from a variety of movies.

Blah blah blah none of it belongs to me

Anyway...

**Freezing-to-Death, Command Center**  
Hundreds of transports and gunships, like tiny metallic insects where descending onto the colony. Each of the shuttles was shaped like a brick. Very flat with two rear spoilers to help direct atmospheric flow and a set of four under-fuselage thrusters for manouvrement. Each apparently had a built-in element zero core, making them vulnerable to electromagnetic pulses. The gunships where much more powerful. They boasted shield systems on par with a tank, and possessed a huge autocannon, a pair of heavy missile pods, and could carry vehicles. The two main vehicles they used had been classified as Mako and Hammerhead respectively. While the transports had been called Kodiaks, and the gunships Mantis.

The airfield of freezing to death was built into the southern mountain range. Completely hidden, until they decided to use the squadron of fighter and bomber craft available. Or the lone, outdated and completely unarmed torpedo boat. The craft was well-beyond outdated, the Bristol class had been the second of humanities patrol craft, initially used to dispatch rattle-trap pirate craft which lacked complex PDC algorithms.

"General, we have the casualty reports in".

General Jeffery Williams was an ageing man. Ever since joining the Archia military at 16 he had worked his way through the ranks as an excellent officer. He was now the leader of the Freezing-to-Death militia and military forces, and in his professional opinion. They where well and truly fucked.  
The unknown contacts had turned out to be asari vehicles, and now they where gathering outside the city, beginning to move through the woods, approaching the area. They had mercilessly executed anyone unwilling to surrender. (Mainly the poor soldiers whose dragons had died earlier in the battle). By some remarkable stroke of luck, the idiots in orbit had yet to attempt to orbitally bombard the city. And with the majority of the civilian population in bunkers, they could finally breathe easy.

Still they where frakked. The asari had an absolutely massive fleet in orbit. Visual detection had spotted dozens of larger warships and that didn't even count cruisers and frigates. He reckoned they had roughly 7000 soldiers on-board their fleet along with roughly 1200 aircraft and 500 armoured vehicles. Compared to 800 soldiers and dragons, 1400 enlisted militia made up of citizens picking up a weapon and a shield and a single company of Shieldmaiden assault tanks they where well and truly outnumbered. Not only that, but the asari held orbital and air superiority, so they couldn't risk moving their tanks or SPAAGs without risking orbital bombardment, even if the asari had yet to try it.

Still, he would be damned if he didn't make the blues pay for every single step with blood. "Go ahead colonel".

"We estimate 73 men have died across the colony from the strikes by the asari, and 121 dragons. A further 200 men have been taken injured, and as many as 200 are captured or MIA including...".

"Including what?".

"The Night Fury". That was it, the room went as silent as the vacumn of space. "Where did they take it?".

"That frigate, the _Dawn of Tranquility_". Oh yes, and the frigate. The stupid frakking frigate. The giant 400 meter ship which had for some reason found it amazingly funny to park it's ass right above the colony. They couldn't get their torpedo bomber past it without making it vulnerable to the fleet in orbit, and they couldn't risk their armour divisions because it kept launching air strikes whenever someone popped their turret above the ground. They had lost a jeep this way already.

"Everything revolves around this damn frigate. Colonel?"

"Aye sir?".

"Who are the most skilled men in your battalion?".

"That would be Sergeant Zaeed Massini, Lieutenant Lee Adama and Second Lieutenant Jesse Scrimius".

"Order them up here this instant and prep that stolen asari shuttle for flight". Maybe they could kill two birds with one stone here.

"Understood, by the way that viking is here, Hiccup Haddock". He stilled, "Thank you colonel, dismissed". He saluted, before disappearing down the stairs towards the hangar bay. (Well, garage converted into a hangar bay). Before long, the rhythmic clank of a prosthetic leg on stone announced itself. A figure clad in deep black armour stepped up. Someone had seen fit to give him a sword, while someone else had attached a shield to his back. "Hiccup Haddock. The first person in the history of humanity to successfully train a dragon".

"Yeah... I have no idea who you are".

"Don't worry, my name is General Williams. Archia military forces. I presume your little sleep was refr-".

"Listen here General. I only came because I was told you might be able to help get me back my dragon". Williams stopped pacing. "Ahh yes, the Night Fury. He was taken by the blues up to that giant metal thing in the sky", he said, pointing towards the frigate.

It was a smooth craft. With a hollow center piece like most asari ships, and with three protrusions which resembled wings but held the 3 mass accelerators. "General do you have a way to get up there. A dragon anything?".

"If you'll wait for a second, then we can get you your dragon back, and save this colony".

_(Hiccups POV)_

As if summoned, three soldiers all dressed in heavy combat gear, two human and one turian, entered the room, and all took notice of the fourth and fifth figures. Zaeed Massini was the first, he wore ageing yellowed armour and carried a gravity hammer. Lee Adama was slightly thinner than the yellow armoured brit, and he was in deep blue, carrying a double-handed sword in a scabbard. The turian carried a mass accelerator and an M920 Nuke Launcher as well as a shield generator. He had a long slice down grey plates, with white tattoos on his face and a long fringe. "Gentlemen, I have a problem, and I believe you have the solution. I'm sure you all noticed the frigate".

Zaeed replied almost immediately, "Well it'd be pretty fucking hard not to notice the giant thor-damned warship hovering over our heads". Hiccup chuckled, I like him already.

"Yeah well, I need it's GUARDIAN systems gone, he wants his Night Fury back. I have a squadron of bombers. Here's the plan".

**Seven Hours Later, Stolen Asari Shuttle**  
"Are you sure this is going to work?"

"No? But ahh well it'll be funny".

Standing in a stolen asari shuttle dressed in assault armour was not what Hiccup had in mind when he wanted to rescue toothless. Apparently the blues wore armour similar to their own (being a humanoid species. Since the asari had taken over multiple colonies belonging to them, it was unlikely they would look to closely at Jesse, who had a pair of fake handcuffs on.

They would pose as guards escorting the 'prisoner' to the cell. Once that was done, Hiccup would break his cuffs and release any soldiers they had onboard. Jesse would then lead them to the armoury (apparently he worked on an asari ship before the war) while Hiccup broke into the labs, where Toothless was likely being held. Zaeed would take a third group to upload a virus onto the PDC controls of the frigate and detonate a rigged-up explosive. (About twenty grenades connected to a kilo of C4. They would then make headway for the nearest escape pods or hangar and detonate the explosive, at least that was how it was supposed to go down. But Hiccup new that a plan never survives first contact with the enemy.

"Are your voice synthesisers working?". He switched it on, "Testing?". Surprisingly the voice exited his suit female. "Well would you look at that, they work". Jesse rose up, "Come on, get these cuffs on me". Hiccup grabbed them, and began fixing them around his wrists, ensuring he looked rough.

"Might want to rough me up a bit, make it look right".

Zaeed cracked his knuckles, "I'll take care of that. I'm sorry about this". He swung an armour fist into the turian's face, drawing a sickening splatter of blue blood, and leaving a clear bruise. "Alright, that's enough. If they don't buy that, then... well let's be real we're screwed". Both Zaeed and Lee burst out laughing.

Hiccup just looked on in confusion. "It's a human thing, I don't get it at all", said Jesse. "Quick, we're approaching the frigate". They all strapped in, and activated their helmets. "Dawn of Tranquility this is shuttle Tiberian requesting hangar bay for prisoner transfer".

_"Shuttle Tiberian, please verify you aren't on the arrival schedule"._

His eyes widened and he looked to Jesse for support. "Say you where broke?".

"Dawn of Tranquillity we had some trouble with our... Flux capacitors, the turbolaser attachment manifold came loose". Zaeed's eyes widened and he looked at Lee with resolute horror. "You idiot?".

_"Shuttle Tiberian received and understood, clear for landing in bay 001"._

Zaeed's head snapped back to the console, "Copy that Dawn of Tranquillity, bay 001". Once the radio switched off, both men burst into laughter. "You used a frakking fake device as an excuse, AND IT WORKED! That's it, no more _Back to the future _for you".

The shuttle dipped upwards, now free to enter the underslung hangar. As they passed the tail, they could see several GUARDIAN towers and viewports.

"Keep your distance Lee, but don't look like your keeping your distance".

"How the hell am I supposed to do that".

"I don't know, fly casual", a pair of fighters raced past, one wiggling its wingtips. "Just keep it steady, a few more seconds. As they entered the hangar, they could see several fighters. They where short stubby craft with a pair of sleek, curving wingtips which had a pair of mass accelerators. The hollow bit through the center had several hardpoints, likely for ordinance. As they set down, Jesse stiffened at the squad of asari commandoes boarding a shuttle. "Right, just keep calm and lets blow up their ship". They opened the doors and Hiccup pushed Jesse out through the gap. "Halt. Who's this?".

"Prisoner transfer from an FOB on the surface".

"I thought the admiral ordered no prisoners to be taken onboard due to a full cell block". Hiccup's eyes widened, before Zaeed took over, "He's one of their commanders, we figured someone with their rank might be a valuable asset". They nodded, "Get your shuttle looked at, we can't risk eezo tech getting in the hands of these primitives". Lee stiffened at the term, but said nothing. "Right, come on prisoner, to the cell block with you".

Hiccup placed a hand on his hip, through the armour he could just about feel the comforting shape of his new sword. He fully intended to tinker with it at the end of the mission, but for now he needed to find Toothless. As they wandered ever deeper into the belly of the frigate, the monotony of every corridor seemed to dig into him, making him panic slightly. He was used to the open air of the sky, not a confined ship. The corridors themselves where lit brightly, with gleaming white metallic plates everywhere, though he noticed clear signs of metal fatigue on some of panels. "The brig should be down the next deck and to the right".

"It's confusing on ships like this, I'm used to our hull config". He could see Zaeed murmur in agreement, while Jesse remained silent. As they opened the bulkhead, Hiccup saw something which almost certainly wasn't part of the plan, a full squad of turians knocking out an asari guard. One noticed him. "There!". He leapt back as a pair grabbed him and pulled him into the wall. He fought back, swinging his weapon downward and disarming the turian. "Wait! Jesse snapped off the cuffs. "They're with me, they're humans, don't harm them". They stopped immediately as both Zaeed and Lee dropped their helmets.

"Sorry, didn't notice that". He waved off the turians concern. "That's alright. Name's Hiccup Haddock".

"Garrus Vakarian, turian Marksmen corps. My division was ambushed on Resilience", said the person who had attacked Hiccup. He was tall, about as tall as Hiccup. With blue markings on his dark plates. His armour was a deep blue, and emblazoned with a flying animal of some sort. "Garrus we where supposed to be coming here to rescue you. But since you've taken care of that-".

"Quite well may I say", said Zaeed, pointing to the numerous turians and even a pair of salarians who where all holding either an omni-tool or a weapon. Even if most of the weapons where pistols. "Garrus, I need you to split those in here into two groups". He nodded, "First group with Zaeed, you're headed to PDC control network, he'll tell you the rest there, the other group with Lee, you're headed to the backup reactor to plant a high explosive charge". Garrus began quietly shelling out orders and was headed to the second group, before Hiccup tapped him on the shoulder. "Not you Garrus, its up to you, but I'm headed to the labs on a nearly suicidal mission".

"A suicide mission? Impossible odds? Count me in".

"Wait that fast?".

"Haddock I've been stuck on a backwater colony for most of the war, and even then I lasted five minutes before being taken prisoner. I want some revenge for my platoon". He nodded, "Fair enough, let's go".

As they left, he nodded to Zaeed, Lee and Jesse, who waved him off. "So what exactly are we rescuing?".

"A dragon".

"Dra-gon. What in the name of the spirits is a dragon?".

"In short, a loyal, fire-breathing flying friend". The look sent Hiccups way by Garrus was almost entirely sceptical. "Have you got a plan B?".

"Yes make sure plan A works". Garrus by now had placed his weapon on his back, so as they turned the corner, they realised their mistake too late. They where in the labs certainly. But the main entrance. In front of them was a full squad of Asari commandos. With weaponry held high. Behind them was a pair of scientists. Hiccup panicked, and immediately twisted round to hide around the corner. "Halt!". He turned slowly round.

The leader of the commandos, a taller asari with a purple coloured skin tone and dark clan tattoos in the pattern of leaf petals. "Where are you taking the prisoner?".

Hiccup ducked his head, "This is a prisoner?". He mentally slapped himself. Of course they where prisoners! "Yes where are you taking them". He nervously looked from Garrus to the commando.

"I am taking him... to imprison him... in, prison?". Once again, the famous Hiccup bluffing strikes again. Garrus tried to help, "He is taking me to-". Hiccup tried to improvise and swung a hand at Garrus, clipping his mouth. "Quiet! And there's a fresh one if you mouth off again".

"Tela Vasir, commandoes, I can take it from here".

"No it's alright I can take him".

"I'll take him to the brig, so-"

"If you could just point me in the right direction".

"Commandoes, get him to the brig"

"I've taken him this far"

"You, stay here". Hiccups eyes widened. "We need to check your medical signs".

"My medical signs? I'm capable of using my suit diagnostics thank you very much". And with that he swung a fist towards Vasir, knocking her out dead. Garrus drew his rifle and began firing wide bursts towards the commandoes, killing one. Hiccup ducked behind a table and brought out his sword.

"I thought this was supposed to be a stealth mission?".

"I swear they always start that way". He fired three bursts from his sword. One clipped a commando on the shoulder and sent her sprawling to the ground. "There's still two left!".

He dashed forward, swinging the sword in a horizontal slash across the first asari, she raised her rifle to block, but he cut straight through the aluminium and titanium, leaving it in two pieces, before swinging the hilt down onto her head with a satisfying crack. The second was thrown back as a resounding crack echoed through the small space, revealing Garrus clutching a vicious looking rifle. But this one was longer, more elegant, and had a small spyglass (not spyglass, scope) on the top. "Hiccup I'd like you to meet my little friend, Vera".

Alright... naming a rifle was odd, better than naming a mace though. "TRAITOR!". He turned and saw Vasir stood there clutching a sword, blue energy pulsating around her body. She screamed and charged forward, forcing Hiccup to block. She swung again, making him shift the sword again. Again and again she made swing after swing against Hiccup. But she lacked experience in swordfighting, and left a fatal flaw. She left her torso open to attack, and after blocking another strike aimed at his head he swung the hilt of the weapon downwards and opened the end, jamming an electrical pack straight into her stomach. She writhed on the spot, blue arcs racing across her body, before collapsing unspectacularly.

"Well at least they don't know we're here?", Garrus suggested.

_"Attention all forces. Boarders have been spotted near the PDC control center and the Labs. Divert marines immediately"._

Hiccup slowly turned to Garrus, "You just had to open your mouth".


	9. Critical Mass

In this chapter, we will see the continuation of the battle of Freezing-to-death, however we are no-where near the end yet, as the Federation must first find out what has been going on. As for a certain other character, she will be introduced a bit later, as the Federation progresses. Link for the music is below. Please bare in mind it is optional, you don't need music, but sometimes it sets a good atmosphere. Remove any spaces

: / / drive . google open?id = 1Ep8lGHVXaER-VNTa01ffxiZryGkSte7W

* * *

_'The battle for Freezing-to-death is not our finest hour. While Haddock and his men where busying themselves with the asari frigate. We where loading phosphorus into artillery shells. Was it humane? Hell no, launching tons of material which is capable of burning the flesh off of your opponents isn't humane at all, it sure as hell isn't honourable. But we where outnumbered and outgunned. Why did you think it's called the Meatgrinder. It's because it had one of the highest mortality rates of the first contact war. They where killing civilians, we had to fight back. And if that meant breaking open the Phosphorus, then that's that'_

Gunnery Sergeant Roberta Draper, 103rd Artillery Force, 'The Freezing-to-Death Meatgrinder'

_'The Archians fought dirty. For years we had been used to the turian way of fighting, simply deploying more troops to overrun them. That didn't work with the Archians. They rode dragons during the battle, and I can't count how many soldiers died because they kept trying to attack those Nadders from behind. Or the soldiers trying to stun a nightmare. The humans challenged every single tactic we had available. Not only did they not even play our game, they broke the rules to their own game as well'_

Major Keri T'Vassa Asari First Strike Troopers, 112th Infantry Brigade, 'Revisiting the First Contact War'

* * *

**Dawn of Tranquility, Asari Aerilon class Heavy Frigate, Hiccup Haddock**  
"Toothless?".

The voice echoed across the lab, and several movements caught Hiccup's eye. As he moved towards the source he heard some shuffling and raised his gun, only to find the charred remains of an asari guard and a containment room.

In it where about 12 dragons, all looking around. Many where injured, but in the center was what he was looking for. "TOOTHLESS!". He forgot about the frigate, forgot about the asari, and even about the mission as he hurriedly opened the door, ignoring the other dragons. A pair of nadders where knocked away as the dragon in question dashed over. Crooning and attempting to nuzzle Hiccup. "I'm here bud, we're okay. But we need to go".

"Roooow"

"I know bud, but our turian friends are currently trying to blow this giant ship up, and we need to escape". The dragon seemed to understand and gave a bark. All of the others roared in acceptance, and Garrus could only look on in surprise. "Wow, this is amazing".

"We can get you your own dragon later, but for now lets meet up with the others in PDC control". He nodded and slapped a clip of ammunition into his rifle. "Lets go, we have 10 minutes till they launch the Auroras". He gestured for the other dragons to follow, and together, they began to make their way back through the frigate. As they moved, Garrus opened up his comm unit, "Group 1 this is Garrus, status on the PDC systems?".

**[Play track labelled as '1']**

When they replied, Garrus had to pull the speaker away from his ears, as gunfire was evident through the radio. "We've placed charges on the auxiliary power unit. But there's a cargo bay between us and the PDC center, we're being held back by Asari marines. Johnson GRENADE!". There was a heavy explosion across the comm, and he vaguely heard several plasma bolts being fired back in rapid succession. "Copy that group 1, we're on our way down. They sped up, now dashing through the narrow corridors, with the dragons close behind, all galloping forth. As they burst into the cargo bay, Hiccup narrowly missed being hit by a grenade, and ducked down, slamming his shield into the ground. "Alright dragons, lets show what we can do!". Despite it being an incredibly small area, the dragons lifted into the air and began firing short blasts of flame at the asari marines.

This suppressive fire gave the turians and the humans the necessary breathing room to charge forward. Hiccup opened up his shield and began dashing towards a pair of marines, which where both carrying light rifles and trying to kill a Nadder. As he swung his shield forward, a flash of plasma lit up the room, before a bolt took down the other asari. "Thanks bud". As they continued to fight, they pushed back the soldiers with ease, before overwhelming them, and even managing to take 3 prisoner. "Knock em out, we can't afford them warning people". Several boots to the face left the marines unconscious and they continued into the next room, Hiccup in the lead.

As they neared a stairwell, Hiccup could see a pair of feet. "Alright listen up, we're coming down to the room". He heard a voice shakily yell back, "You have to give me your authorisation password". Jesse ripped a heavy pistol off and fired a burst down the stairs.

"O.. Okay...". As they moved down, Lee pulled out a large pouch. "Zaeed hurry, the squadron will be here any moment". He pulled out another pouch, and they began placing the charges across the room.

* * *

**Freezing-to-Death Airbase, Squadron Leader Hannah Shepard**

"All craft, prepare for take-off". A whoosh filled the mountainside hangar-bay and electromagnetic catapults accelerated two dozen fighter-craft forth, their engines tearing into the quiet hillside, and leaving faint smoke trails behind. "_Baker flight this is FTD control, the PDC systems should be taken down_".

"Copy that, stand by". After a short journey, 24 faint black dots materialised from the hills, and the pilots of baker squadron shivered as they looked upon the frigate. "All wings report in".

"_Red Leader standing by_"

"_Grey Leader standing by_"

"_Green Leader standing by_"

Hannah flicked a switch on her console, "Lock hardpoints into attack positions". Several thousand pounds of explosive ordnance, and several autocannons extended from her fuselage. "_Godspeed Baker flight_". From the back, she heard her co-pilot beginning to open up sensor arrays. "That's odd. I'm reading negative on all counts, we must be able to get some kind of reading on the PDC systems, even if they fried the servers".

"But I'm reading heavy interference and apparently they can't even see the PDCs, so why?".

"Well why would they jam our defence matrixes unless they still have... have PDCs". The realisation dawned on her with fear. "All squadron units, break off the attack, the PDCs are still up".

"_Gold Leader, Red Leader I got no reading, you sure?_".

"Pull up, all craft pull up!". She yanked her control column up, and narrowly avoided straying into range of GUARDIAN towers. Through the comm, she could hear their Raptor bombers having a similar problem. "_Take evasive action. Gunners prep the autocannons for defensive posture_". The much larger bombers pulled left, and their bomb doors closed. Except for Gold 4.

"_Gold 4 pull up_".

"_AAAAAAHHHH_". The bomber obviously had problems, and as they struggled turn away, she could see faint flashed from the frigate. Being in atmosphere meant that the lasers where forced to use lower wavelengths, but within 7 seconds, the bomber had been turned to slag. As with a broken tailfin, a lack of manoeuvrability, and it being the only target available. The guns had had much more luck. "Shepard, I have 18 enemy fighters and 12 interceptors in sector 14".

"_Its a trap!_".

"Fighters target the enemy interceptors. Don't let them hit the bombers".

She pressed a thumb down on her joystick, letting loose a flurry of bullets which cut through the asari fighters. After firing sustained bursts, she let a missile loose, which turned the fighter into a flying paperweight.

**[Stop track 1, Play track labelled as '2']**

* * *

**Hiccup Haddock, Onboard the ****_Dawn of Tranquility_**  
"RUUUUUUN!". He dashed forward, putting as much distance between him and the room as possible. Before a deafening noise announced itself from the area. The entire ship shook, as flames burst from the room, consuming several crates. Dull thuds echoed throughout the ship. "Hiccup the PDCs and the Auxiliary power unit is down, but we may have a problem".

"Oh just add it to the list Lee".

"The primary fuel lines ruptured. If the bombers hit them? No more frigate and no more us".

"Uhhh, evacuate?". Hiccup slapped a hand to his face, "Everyone to the escape pods GO GO GO!".

The ship began to thrum violently, before once again it shook, but this time it was far greater, and he nearly fell over. Faint screams and the sound of something collapsing then exploding where also heard as lights across the bay dimmed, before brightening significantly. "Umm, what was that?".  
Lee brought up a blueprint of the ship. "Ohhh crap... Yeah, the main reactor just shut down the shields".

"And..."

"Means any missiles that hit will completely obliterate it".

That only inspired them to keep running quicker. Hiccup could still vaguely remember the escape pod positions. "Right then, head left!". As Hiccup jumped round the corner he could see the escape pods. "Everyone in!. Almost immediately the escape pods began filling up. The first was fired off within moments. But another blast, much closer now, shook the frame. "The bombers are starting their attack run, I can hear the mass accelerators, not that it'll do much".

The next escape pod fired off, then the next. Before long the final was ready, but as Hiccup leapt for it. The door slammed shut. "Crap, okay hangar bay it is Toothless".

* * *

**Baker Flight, Bomber pilot Paige Tico**  
"The PDCs are down. Bombers commence attack on the frigate". The 8 Raptors pulled away and began burning towards the frigate. "All fighters protect the bombers". The bombers ducked and weaved through hundreds of mass accelerator shots from the frigate and fighters. "Steady...". She could see fighters following her, and the other bombers began to slowly become the primary target. "Keep up the fire!". Bullets whizzed past her right wing, and struck a fellow craft. They hit one of the engines, causing it to explode in a hail of fire and metal. Before long it spiralled down and hit the ground, but the interceptor in question was soon dealt with by her escorts.

This was it the final run. She was the only bomber left. Explosions filled the sky around her as she dodged and

"Come on Come on!. As the fire got more intense, a bomber managed to slip through the fighter screen. "YES! COME ON!". It continued to dodge mass accelerator fire. A single yellow streak dropped from the bottom headed straight at the ship. "MISSILE AWAY!".

It struck the vessel, and there was a blinding light. At the point of impact, nanoseconds after the pressure broke a tiny seal. A single neutron was gently pushed into a molecule of uranium-235. The molecule almost immediately absorbed the neutron, briefly becoming uranium-236, before the strength of the weak nuclear force caused it to break down. The strong-interaction between the particles was overcome, and the atom split into two smaller atoms releasing a tiny amount of energy, and 3 additional neutrons. Within nano-seconds, millions of other atoms followed suite, and 1.34 seconds after the first neutron was fired, the entire load had detonated. The radiation pressure of the bomb melted, then vapourised the metal holding the engine mounts to the fuselage, and small kinetic barriers designed to prevent decks from being exposed to vacuum failed almost entirely.

The fire washed over the hull of the ship from nose to tail, scorching it and melting almost the entire rear section of the ship. The noise of such a bomb caused eardrums to rupture across the vessel from those close enough, and left a clearly visible mushroom cloud slowly rising from the ground. By shear luck the fallout from such a device would not be at all effective, thanks to it's relative altitude and distance from the colony. By the time the initial fireball stopped expanding, the shear amount of flames made contact with the rupture fuel lines. A stream of fire went throughout the ship, consuming all of the primary reactor and engine fuel tanks, causing a secondary detonation which consumed several poor shuttles trying to fly from the frigate, and killing all of the crewmembers within several meters of the tanks. 3.4 seconds after this, the main reactor of the ship exploded with a similar force to the bomb which had sealed its fate.

The force tore all three 'winglets' from the fuselage completely off, and resulted in yet another shockwave, which shook the very colony itself. It almost immediately began loosing altitude, at an alarming pace. A single black dot shot from the wreckage, flames leaving white trails in the sky as Night Fury and rider dived away, shooting down an asari fighter for good measure. By the time a minute had passed, the entire ship was colliding with the ground, leaving deep trenches and furrows, and collapsing an asari armour staging ground, killing several commanders in the process. By the time the incident was over, well over 1300 asari and 89 humans and dragons had been killed by the frigate's destruction. The wreckage would poison an entire region of land with dangerous element zero, until after the battle when a corvette would spray a neutralisation fluid over the site, and use a specialised set of magnets to remove the compound.

In orbit, matriarch Lidanya watched in seething anger, as the once graceful figure was left as a shattered husk of what it once was. Brought down by craft the size of an interceptor. Her gritted teeth and shaking body where evident of her rage. "S...Status", she said in an oddly calm voice. Reminding the lieutenant of a volcano before an eruption.

"The Dawn of Tranquillity reported boarders near the PDC controls before several explosions where reported across all decks. Followed by the main reactor diverting power away from shields to compensate. Then we suspect a lone enemy bomber managed to sneak through our fighter screen to fire a simple fission weapon on the engine".

"How?".

"We think the human's stole a shuttle, then used it to infiltrate the frigate". The matriarch stiffened, but said nothing. "Sir! single contact breaking atmosphere".

"Verify".

"Corvette-weight, 42 meters long and burning quickly for the opposite side of the planet". She brought up the image. A single craft with a pair of those PDCs the humans favoured so much and a pair of torpedo tubes which where completely silent themselves. "Well? Shoot them down!".

"Aye sir, firing mass accelerator". The guns of the Destiny Ascension spoke, sending four slugs in a staggered pattern towards the contact, however unbelievably the craft seemed to dodge them! It flipped with alarming manoeuvrability, and burned hard. The force should have at least been 20 times the force of gravity (Let me just say now, that the Asari homeworld is similar to earth in every way except the fact that it is covered in eezo. Their G is similar to ours).

Before long it was now glowing on their sensors, that same odd radiation source lighting up the sensors like a lantern. "TAKE THEM DOWN!". They fired again, but once again the ship dodged with a professionalism not seen even in fighter pilots, before disappearing into a blue flash and completely removing itself from sensors. "Craft is no longer on sensors. Energy signature suggests they jumped to FTL".

"Dispatch another frigate, a newer frigate to the atmosphere. I'll be in my quarters".

* * *

**Freezing-to-Death HQ**  
The atmosphere of the HQ in the colony was the opposite. People cheered and whooped with joy as the torpedo bomber disappeared from sensors. "The Arboghast is away. The frigate is down, and we have at least 24 minutes till another can arrive". For once Williams celebrated, and cracked open a bottle of mead, generally it was considered inappropriate to drink on the job, but there was such a little amount to go around, and it would raise spirits considerable. "We have done something remarkable. We have shown, that we don't give up. We may be outnumbered, but our fleet knows we are here, and they will come for us. Until then? We will not give up

We are STRONG!". A cheer.

"We are POWERFUL!". Another one, accompanied by a distant bang as the bombers and fighters began using their window of opportunity to obliterate Turian ground bases and armour columns.

"And we don't feel fear!. GLORY TO THE FEDERATION".

All across the compound, all across the colony and even in the skies of the planet. The collective cheer of dragons, humans and turians alike sent a chilling wave of fear through the asari soldiers. Just who where they dealing with here?

* * *

**Codex Entry Updated: Federation Aircraft**

F103-Aurora  
Length: 19 meters

Wingspan: 13.5 meters

Crew: 2

Armament: 2 30 millimetre autocannons, single plasma lobber, 6 hardpoints for missiles

Role: Space/Air Superiority Fighter (Modified for Stealth Attack missions)

Agility: Extremely agile and quick, Mach 3 in Atmosphere,

Lore: With an appearance similar to the F22 raptor, the Aurora is a deadly fighter, capable of ripping apart council squadrons. Unlike their counterparts, the Aurora is designed wholly as a superiority fighter, and when it entered the battlefield, no other craft could compete.

Mk II Assault Raptor  
Length: 26 meters

Wingspan: 12 meters

Crew: 3 (But can carry up to 12 additional troops)

Armament: 1 plasma lobber, 2 30 millimetre cannons, 16 small hardpoints, small bomb bay, 2 massive rocket pods on upper hull

Role: Space/Ground Assault Gunship/Light Transport, Light Bomber

Agility: Fairly sluggish and slow compared to other craft, capable of VTOL landings

Lore: With an appearance unique to anything seen before (look up colonial assault raptor) the Assault Raptor is a deadly opponent. While not capable of matching an aurora's manoeuvrability or a pulsar's power, the Assault Raptor acts as a half-way point capable of taking on other aircraft despite it's sluggish build and even able to act as a bomber. An entirely new craft capable wholly of this multi-role gunship type is under development, called the Harrier.

Mk I Raptor  
Length: 26 meters

Wingspan: 10.3 meters

Crew: 2 (But can carry 14 additional troops)

Armament: 1 40 millimetre autocannon, 2 hardpoints

Role: Electronic Warfare Craft, Scout, Cargo shuttle, Light Transport

Agility: Similar to assault raptor, but EWA models are fairly quick

Lore: Often mocked by Aurora pilots for its slow speed and bulky airframe, the raptor in effect is just as vital, if not more so than the Aurora. Possessing a versatility only seen on council corvettes, the raptor can be retrofitted for any mission, and some variants have been fitted with prototype FTL drives, stealth plating and IES systems to avoid detection. Allowing them to deploy everything from anti-personnel mines to nuclear warheads.

B-52 Pulsar  
Length: 30 meters

Wingspan: 27 meters

Crew: 12 (space for 20 paratroopers or ODSTs)

Armament: 8 autocannons in manned turrets, 1 forward facing plasma lobber, space for thousands of kilograms of explosive ordnance including torpedos and even missiles

Role: Space/Air Stealth Bomber

Agility: Fairly sluggish turn rate, but extremely quick (Mach 4 in Atmosphere)

Lore: Known as being the Vulcan of the new world order, the Pulsar bomber is an elegantly designed craft, which has often struck fear into the hearts of pirates, by it's sound alone. Due to it's thermo-baffles, stealth plating and IES systems, the bomber is undetectable until it's payload is fired, and even then it will often be travelling so fast that shooting it down is not an option, the only way to destroy them is often in when they return, for a brief few seconds their will be slower than before, providing an opportune time to obliterate the. If you aren't killed by their rear gunners.

L-Type Dropship  
Length: 32 meters

Wingspan: NA width of 28 meters

Crew: 2 (Space for 32 soldiers and equipement. Or can carry 2 vehicles)

Armament: 1 Haddock Ballistics 40mm PDC, 2 AA missile launchers, 4 50 calibre machine guns

Role: Heavy Transport, Light Gunship

Agility: Quite slow and bulky, but impressive turn rate in space

Lore: A sturdy and tough craft, the L-Type dropship skiff is as reliable as it is old. While having a somewhat low tech armament system, lacking plasma lobbers, the machine guns are more than capable of killing enemy soldiers as they fire far too slowly to be stopped by kinetic barriers, and a recent addition of gauss rails only served to 'squeeze' the bullets, creating boiling hot projectiles with can be painful and deadly.

M-Type Gunship  
Length: 18 meters

Wingspan: 8 meters normally, but extendable rotor blades increase this to 20 meters

Crew: 3 (Can carry a single armoured vehicle or a squad of 12

Armament: 1 40 millimetre autocannon, 8 external hardpoints, 2 medium rocket pods, 1 internal bomb-bay

Role: Multi-role Gunship, Light Transport, Medium Bomber

Agility: Not the fastest craft available, but extremely manoeuvrable

Lore: Similar an appearance to the MI-24 Hind gunships of the 21st century, the Hind is a rugged and resilient craft. Her autocannon may be slightly outdated, but is possible the most powerful conventional weapon in the federation. It can fire depleted uranium rounds, each weighing about 3 of kilos to hit a target accurately from about 1.1 kilometres. The rounds are each 40 millimetres across and are rated to penetrate something stupid like 110 millimetres of titanium armour from this range. And the gun can fire 1200 rounds per minute.

All in all the gun itself is a stupid piece of overcompensation that for some reason found itself mounted onto a gunship. This is the reason why we don't allow our engineers and ballistics scientists to snort dragon-nip, we end up with stupid weapons which break just about every law we ever installed on small craft, and end up with aircraft capable of ripping through just about any armour known.

Yes Jonsi we know you posed the design as a joke, stop sniggering at the ridiculousness of this damn craft. No we don't care if the gun can outperform railguns, its still a stupid gun.


	10. The Hand of God

Warning, when I said M rating for this story, I didn't mean lemon. (While yes there will be lemon later) No in this chapter, you will see why the compound used in Artillery shells, known as Willie Pete is so bad. Vivid descriptions of death below.

_Oooh, how interesting_

BTW, serious business, I need advise, do I ask the girl I like out? I mean she asked about my crush, and I deflected mostly, then when I asked about hers, she used the same adjectives to describe them that she used to describe me a few weeks earlier. She is waaaaay out of my league, and she repeatedly jokingly says she loves me, but I don't want to risk ruining our friendship. Can you plz leave your suggestions in the reviews. That might be why this chapter feels rushed, I've been distracted with this and with college (british college not American college. It's the stage before university/American college)

* * *

**Arcturus Station**  
"_Arcturus Station this is the ASW Broadsword, I have a bogey, penetrating Arcturus space_".

Radar operator Sliney looked down at his display, surely enough, an un-named craft had entered the space around Arcturus station. Nothing unusual with ships passing the station, however in order for a ship to approach Arcturus, it needed to contact the ATC ahead of time with a set of codes. Civilian ships where often not allowed near the station. Arcturus was a military stronghold, designed to hold the leaders of the federation and to construct massive capital class ships, very few civilian ships not cleared ahead of time where allowed within their airspace.

"Solid copy _Broadsword_, confirmed hit on target. Classification looks like an old _Morrigan_ class Patrol Destroyer". The contact continued to make headway for the station. Now it was looking less like a forgotten contact and more like a terrorist. "Alert, contact is still heading straight for the station, Broadsword prepare to fire".

"_Solid copy. Torpedo lock confirmed_". The screen lit up as the Broadsword locked it's torpedoes onto the torpedo ship.

"_Hold on Broadsword, this is the ASW Miami, getting a weak signal from the ship. Patching it to Arcturus now_".

He pressed several buttons and put the signal through to the speakers. "_-is the ASW Arboghast. Freezing-to-Death has fallen to an unknown enemy. We have managed to sneak past the enemy fleet. Requesting immediate docking at Arcturus station_". The words where chilling. An outer colony had fallen?

"Get me Hackett, now".

* * *

**Admiral Steven Hackett, ASW Everest**  
"WHAT?!". The fleet admiral of the entire Federation navy was outraged when he heard the news. "Get me Director Grimborn and Admiral Avescerala now". The ensign nodded, before rushing off. Obviously more concerned with getting away from the rather angry naval leader. He turned to his PDA.

"Let's see what kind of fleet we're up against".

**WARSHIPS**

4 CAPITAL SHIPS (1 LARGE CLASSIFICATION: ALPHA, 3 MEDIUM CLASSIFICATION: BRAVO)

38 HEAVY CRUISERS (1 MEDIUM CLASSIFICATION: CHARLIE)

121 CRUISERS (1 SMALL CLASSIFICATION: DELTA)

NA FRIGATES/DESTROYERS

289 CORVETTES (1 LARGE CLASSIFICATION: ECHO)

**UTILITY SHIP**

12 HEAVY TRANSPORTS (CLASSIFICATION: FOXTROT)

64 MEDIUM TRANSPORTS (CLASSIFICATION: GOLF)

"Sir the Turian admiral has sent over classifications", he heard over the PA.

"Go ahead ensign".

"The ships include 1 _Ascension_ class Superdreadnought, 3 _Armali_ class Heavy Battleships, 38 _Nebula_ class Battlecruisers, 12 _Quasar-Fire_ class Heavy Freighters, 121 _Galaxy_ class Cruisers and 289 _Proton_ class Heavy Frigates".

"Wait I thought they didn't detect any frigates" he said, raising a valid point.

"Difference in ship size. The Turians kept calling our battlecruisers dreadnoughts".

_Let's see, ships appear to all be designed for medium range engagements. That puts them right within range of our Torpedoes, but a bit too close for comfort. So either we jump a fleet of missile ships in and hit them from afar, or send heavy warships and pummel them at close range. But they have FTL, so any ships engaging in bombardment are still vulnerable. Which means the best option is a mixture, send both fleets in and overwhelm them._

"Officer Avescerala has arrived". No sooner had his VI assistant said this than the doors burst open with a very angry looking Chrisjen Avescerala. She was foreign, from Pakistani descent, almost as old as Hackett but aging much more gracefully. She was dressed in her usual admirals apparel and wore the same black ponytail and unimpressed scowl on her face as when he had first rescued her from a pirate vessel. "Hackett I don't have time for pleasantries, get to the frakking point".

"Freezing-to-Death under siege. Need a fleet to take it back, how's that?". Her eyes widened, "Oh for frak's sake, I knew taking in those Turians would be a bad call". He shook his head, "Nothing to do with the turians aside from they where hunting them and found us instead".

"I presume you have a plan aside from just throwing the seventh fleet at them?".

He nodded, "I'm dispatching the third recon fleet and the twelfth pirate suppression fleet to your own. Hopefully their torpedo and fighter tubes will give you a decisive advantage". The woman crossed her arms, "What about the birds, can I have their fleet. Some long-range artillery support wouldn't go amiss".

"I'll speak to Arterius, he will likely be willing to donate his fleet. well flotilla". She turned to leave, "I'll be aboard the _Death Bringer_ if you want me.

Other than that what ground forces do we have available".

"Ryker's sending the 102nd infantry brigade, the 501st marine corps and a squad of Fury Troopers". She stopped dead, "Aside from the obvious overcompensation for what is clearly a tiny enemy force, what else did Ryker deem fit to send".

"An Angel assault platform and a battalion of Shieldmaidens".

"Odin have mercy on the Asari, he's actually using an Angel for once?".

"Yes, one is being docked to the _Death Bringer_ as we speak, and two more are being attached to the _Thomas Prince_, ready for it's attack on Minnovai". Avescerala smiled, "We're actually declaring war on something?".

He nodded, "the Director was furious, and called for an emergency meeting. I assume you'll be preparing the _Death Bringer_ for combat?".

She nodded and continued leaving the room, "Let me know when you have my ships at the ready".

* * *

**The Freezing-to-Death Meatgrinder**  
The colony of FTD was oddly silent, containing little activity from a simple outside perspective. Almost soulless. A lone street moved slightly, as 12 soldiers dressed in stark white armour, escorting a pair of armoured vehicles. At the head of this formation was Staff Sergeant Moakius Dalinis. She was 236 years old. Serving the empire military, and while she didn't agree with the war, she couldn't argue that the asari people hadn't come out of it better. As they manoeuvred through the rubble, se was comforted by the weight of the heavy shotgun at her hip, a gift from her mother who had served in the army before her. Military service was a long tradition for the Dalinis family, with both her grandmothers serving in the Sanghelli rebellions.

She lifted her omnitool to her lips as they passed another intersection. "This is Patrol 4, nothing to report in the ruins".

"Copy that 4, continue patrol and then head for the main colony".

The outer villages had become a death-trap for the armour divisions. With their superior ground weaponry, the M35 Bulwark APC and PL09 Hovertanks hadn't stood a chance. The 3rd artillery unit had been headed up the main road of the colony, when without warning the road exploded beneath them. The woods had come alive with gunfire, and rocket propelled grenades. Within minutes, the convoy had been reduced to scrap metal, especially the hovertanks. The Kinetic barriers had been completely unfazed by the plasma fire, but the rocket propelled grenades had been travelling so slowly, literally running pace, that they had carried on through. The PL09 almost entirely relied on shields, so when an armour piercing weapon found a vehicle with very little, it had completely struck the tank, going inside before detonating.

The PL09s where like glass cannons once their shields where down. The M35s had stood a much greater chance. They had much thicker armour than their counterpart, and could shrug off RPGs for a while, however whenever that happened, the humans happened to have one of those spiky dragons with very hot fire, which would melt through the armour as though it didn't exists. Or one of their super-tanks. Which where very, very tough vehicles which could outperform their own tanks easily. Command had decided to send out recon squads accompanied by M35s to clear the outer villages while fighters dropped hastily thrown together explosives on the woods. It had worked so far, and they had cleared route A which was now being used by infrantry and armour alike to approach the colony, from the plateau 4 kilometres away where the majority of the asari force had landed. At least the ones which hadn't been shredded by primitively thrown together conventional miniguns hosting 40 millimetre wide bullets.

"Understood command, continuing patrol". As they rounded another corner, she looked down the street. Like the last five it was still and empty. She kept her weapon up though, just in case. Up ahead in the road, she saw a slight hump. "Stop!". The humans had proven very proficient at rigging up traps. Explosives which where designed to maim, by firing out metal shards. Then when medics arrived to treat the wounded, a second load of explosives would vaporise them. Pits concealed on uneven roads, a thin tarpaulin covered in dust, blended into the road until someone stepped on it, sending them down towards long spikes, or even disabling armoured vehicles by getting them stuck. Then there was napalm.

Oh god she never wanted to think about that stuff. Some of the humans dragons where huge, literally larger than anything she had seen. They had flown overhead, firing streams of fire which rotated like a vortex. The fire alone was hot enough to cause second-degree burns across entire bodies, even with armour, but the real horror came with a human incendiary substance. It stuck to everything. Flesh, vehicles, armour. They would cover entire streets in the stuff, then send a vortex dragon in and set it alight. The smell of it was horrifying, the faintly sweet smell with a mixture of chemicals and then the scent of burning flesh, as it ignited, coating soldiers, killing them. Sometimes they just dropped it from faster creatures, like the small ones which where little terrors. Those buggers where quite common, and many asari had made the mistake of underestimating them, before they pounced, too quick to shoot, and ripped off armour, often finishing the target with a blast of fire to the head.

A faint whistling caught the air. It was almost undetectable. As though something was falling quickly. Not like those creatures, but something small, like... an artillery. "ARTILLERY! TAKE COVER". She threw herself under the body of a Bulwark. It was the only cover around and waited. A loud array of booms shook the earth, and she could here a secondary explosion as one scored a lucky hit on the front Bulwark, destroying it in an instant. After a few seconds it was over, but an ear-screeching whistle erupted through the air. Armali help us, she thought, searching for where a human calling in the strike could be, surely they had to be nearby right?

* * *

**Zaeed Massini, FTD Meat Grinder, 17 minutes earlier**  
He took out the beacon, carefully placing it on the floor. The tiny red pulsating light on top unnoticeable compared to the daytime light. The battery life would be good for 3 days, or so the engineers had said. "Charge planted, Jesse you're up". The turian nodded and brought out several odd instruments. "We place the motion detector here", he said, putting a small metal cylinder inside of an opaque bottle, and throwing it onto a pile of rubble, from where a convenience store had exploded. "And then the detector will send a signal to the beacon, activating it". He attached a small antennae to it. "And boom. No more beacon, and no more convoy". Zaeed, who was still cradling his new rifle, stolen from the body of an asari commando, smiled with only what could be described as glee, "You're a genius Jesse, let's hope this trap works".

"Their convoy just left, it should be here in 15 minutes, we need to get going". Zaeed nodded, giving a mock salute. "With luck, we can prevent another patrol from surviving". He vented the remaining heat from the Avenger assault rifle, "Yeah well, their time on this colony is numbered anyway, and when we get it back, there's no way the council will let us just sit back". Now all there was to do was to find a comfortable spot and watch as 4 artillery guns crewed by just over 16 individuals laid waste to an entire patrol, starting with a barrage of conventional shells. Then came the WP Whistler rounds.

_15 minutes later, vantage point half a click north_

Unlike what Hollywood movies may have said, artillery shells made little sound. They did cause a slight whistling, but it was for a second or so before they hit, and often was not noticed in the sound of battle, so he commended the asari squad for noticing this and taking cover. Not that it helped them when the second barrage came in. These ones where fitted with howlers. Sirens which used the air to create a very high-pitched whistling sound, spreading a sense of dread. White Phosphorus.

Phosphorus rounds where basically explosive cannisters attached to a very nasty element called Phosphorus. White Phosphorus, or as it was called, Willie Peat was made of four Phosphorus atoms attached to each other. When exploded, it created an opaque cloud of white vapour impossible to see through, which spread into the cracks between armour, where it's second property took over. Unlike conventional shells, or even napalm, which exploded or caught fire for a short time, white phosphorus burned as long as there was oxygen. Death by it came in three equally gruesome ways. Either it struck the skin directly, causing second degree burns across the body, causing organ failure or blood loss, it could cause so much pain and shock, that the body of the victim just gave up, causing heart attacks or failure. Or worse, it could be inhaled, in which case it would burn the victims lungs, suffocating them while they struggled to resist the horrifying burning sensations. It was a nasty compound.

But it worked, as was proven when well over 1200 asari soldiers lost their lives to it and 800 more where traumatised and injured by the compound, suffering from chemical and thermal burns. The asari of Patrol number 4 would add 24 more individuals and 2 armoured vehicles to the list.

* * *

**Codex Entry: Non-Extinct Species**  
Asari - A blue skinned humanoid species found through Citadel space. Similar in size, appearance and layout to humans, but mono-gendered (only females). Capable of reproducing with any species and live for up to 1000 years. They go through three stages. Maiden (Where they spend time learning and exploring), Matron (A calmer, longer stage where they will often have children and care for them, while also working or researching) and Matriarchs (Where they are at their wisest, and spend their time guiding younger asari. Matriarchs can have thousands of followers and are revered)

Turian - Avian species from the planet Palevan. They are tough and resilient, having evolved on a planet with a tiny magnetic field. Their society is built around strict ideals, where they follow the orders of a heirarchy of superiors. Individual thought and creativity is often only used by the generals and leaders themselves, and a good turian is expected to 'Die for the Cause' and never question their superiors. Turians are dextro-amino meaning their proteins are mirrored to humans and asari.

Salarian - A species similar in build to salamanders, Salarians are 5.5 foot tall lizards from Sur'Kesh. They are remarkably intelligent and hardworking, meaning the best way to gain a friend in a salarian is to tell them they've done a good job. The Levo-chirality lizards do face a disadvantage though, with 40 years being considered old for a salarian.

Hanar - An incredibly polite species, which have a similar lifespan to humans, and revere the Protheans as gods. They are often described as 2 meter tall 'jellyfish' with short bodies similar in shape to smooth clouds, very soft pink skin, and long tentacle like appendages used as legs. They glow when speaking, and will often use the phrase 'This One' instead of 'I'. This is because all other organisms are simple amoeba compared to the 'Enkindlers' and do not deserve individualisation. Hanar who deal with other races, take anger-management lessons, to prevent them getting angry at impoliteness, or improper grammar.

Elcor - Slow witted mammalian organisms from Dekunna, a high gravity world. They resemble massive gorillas and are extraordinarily humble. Despite this, they are strong, tough and powerful in a fight, using back-mounted weapon systems controlled by VI. They are often referred to as living tanks. Unlike other species, they lack complex voice-boxes, and thus must preceed everything they say with the tones or feelings in the sentence, for example: "How are you Vorlack?". "With sarcasm, I am just fine thank you".

Klingon - Despotic slavers from Q'ono'S, Klingon are a humanoid specis somewhat similar to humans but tougher with a greater affinity to radiation. Unfortunately, they are violent and easily predicablt, often hiring mercenaries to enslave underdefended colonies, or sometimes taking the colonies themselves, if they believe it is safe to do so. For years they have been protected from action by the Terminus, a lawless collection of systems which acts as a buffer zone between them and asari or turian space.

Sanghelli - An extremely violent Sauron species from Tuchanka. Until the discovery of gunpowder, the biggest cause of death on Tuchanka was 'Killed by Predator'. After this, it was 'Death by gunshot', then they split the atom, and plunged themselves into a self-inflicted nuclear war. They are violent, but suffer from a birth rate so low, that they may become extinct in a few centuries, though they live longer than asari.

Quarians - Not much is known about the quarians, except that they dress in skin-tight environmental suits designed to prevent them from becoming ill. Even before the collapse of the citadel council and the asari wars, the quarians invented the geth, then where forced to attempt extermination on them due to the Council's ban on AI. They are now seen as beggars, pariahs, vagrants and thieves, with many suffering from extreme prejudice. They are described as three fingered and dual-toed humanoids with featureless opaque masks, only letting through the two spots of light from their bio-luminescent eyes. They are incredible engineers, but many find themselves in 'Indentured Servitude' (Read: Slavery)

Vy'keen - rescued by their homeworld by the Hanar 50 years before the Asari Wars, the Vy'keen's home planet of Varia had an incredibly fragile climate, and an asteroid impact on their southern peaks started a 20 year long nuclear winter where temperatures plummeted, but of more concern was a massive underground deposit of methane which was released, which caused the opposite effect, and 25 years after that, temperatures skyrocketed as the methane acted as a greenhouse gas, making the temperature hotter, which boiled what little water is open on Varia, which also raised the temperature. Only 300,000 Vy'keen where rescued. They have the appearance of lizards with stark red under their necks and with the same body appearance as the other humanoid races. Two legs, a three fingered hand where the middle digit is fused together and a single pair of deep black eyes. Many are hired as assassins by the now vassalized Illuminated Primacy.

Korvax - The only ammonia based ecology known, the Korvax appear fairly similar to quarians, however they are shorter, slightly fatter and are well respected as genius economists. Before the Asari Wars, they where behind the foundation of the Citadel Banking Administration, creating the standard currency adopted everywhere. Their helmets and environmental suits are to keep their delicate ecosystems contained, as without a massively high pressure atmosphere of ammonia, they will explode. Literally.

Geth - A robotic species created by the quarians. Being exclusively a hivemind (meaning the more geth there are, the smarter they are) the geth have not been spotted outside the Perseus veil in 300 years. They are apparently similar in size and build to the quarians, but with a purple-black metallic alloy on their skin, and a single insect like hood as a head, holding a single optical sensor.

* * *

"_It is well that war is so terrible, or we would grow far too fond of it_" - Robert E Lee


	11. You Sank My Battleship

Hi guys, guess what? Looks like I can have a few more characters you may recognise from FF in here. The amazing Nightstar Fury. Author of some amazing Hiccup/Astrid, Hiccup/OC and Hiccup/Toothless fanfics with great variety has given me permission to use her OCs. All credit for them goes to her, and I definitely recommend you check out most of her stories. There is guaranteed to be one for each of you, and I especially recommend 'An Unintentional Hero' and 'A Complete Turnaround'.

Anyway, all credit goes to her, I take no credit for them at all as they are not mine. A full link to her channel is impossible (God damn FF banning links) But I will be releasing an additional book like this one, which will be an entirely universe based one. Not needed, but it will have the more fact based information if you like that kind of thing, or want some insight.

Big thank you as usual to:

VigoGrimborne

Nightstar Fury

Also, If you want to suggest some names for ships. Feel free to, currently I'm relying on a random name generator, and I will gladly add any name, foreign or not to the list. Hell you could suggest the General Belgrano if you really want to. Then again suggesting sunken ships is asking for trouble. That's what I don't get, the sheer number of ships named Prometheus or Icarus. They're both tragedies. Seriously? How many destroyed ships before we clock onto the fact that naming ships after tragedies is a bad idea.

* * *

"_The surrender of the FTD garrison to the blues was a somewhat embarrassing event, but I don't regret it, they would have executed the entire colony had we not laid down our arms, and the Asari never got ahold of any of our technology, so no harm was done. I saved the lives of thousands, but I don't get mentioned as a hero, only a coward. But I'm happy to go down as a coward, if that means children aren't slaughtered. Any of the men who served on the garrison would agree._"

General Williams, Revisiting Freezing-to-Death, on his deathbed after the First Contact war.

* * *

"It is settled then. The turians will be providing their fleet to Admiral Chrisjen Avescerala of the Sixth fleet. They will also be joined by several smaller fleets, and will be headed straight for Freezing-to-Death to free the colony", spoke Viggo.

Immediately the room filled with voices and outcry's. Needless to say, he didn't envision himself getting much sleep anytime soon. "What of the Asari, surely we have a plan for that", ahh, that would by Donnell Udina, the director for Foreign Affairs. The conniving bastard was likely related to a Nott, he was almost certain of it, since he was a manipulative and backstabbing politician. At one time Viggo might have respected him, but the tanned and slightly chubby American was stirring up trouble.  
He wore a clean white suit and blue undershirt, with a constant scowl or smirk on his face. His almost shaved head was neatly trimmed, and this time he was fixing Viggo with a smirk which he could translate all too easily.

"Due to the fact they have assaulted one of our colonies, and would likely have attacked us eventually, we intend to re-enter the fight as soon as possible". The chubby politician's smiled dropped like a stone, "What?! You want to go to war. That's asking for trouble. We are in no shape to-".

He knew what the director was trying to do. Making the Archians seem smaller and less powerful, making it look like they couldn't afford a war when the opposite was true. The Archians where in great shape. Space was a rich place, filled with enough heavy metals to drown even the most out-of-control economic predictions. Not only that, but energy was almost more common. Gases for fusion like deuterium and the co-material helium-3 where found in abundance in saltwater, or found on the surface of any moon close enough to it's parent star to be struck by the solar wind

"We are in perfect shape. The _Unyielding Heirophant_ is in excellent condition, and the marine corps are already putting together contingencies to evacuate outer colony worlds. Not only that, but the Turian Heirarchy would be perfectly willing to aid us in any offensive attacks".

Hackett took over, "It's true the turians have a more-than-intimate knowledge of asari tactics. We already plan to ruthlessly exploit their dreadnoughts weaknesses". Udina grumbled under his breath. _Conniving bastard_.

"We have sent a proposal to all governors and senators datapads. Whether we announce an official declaration of war against the Asari, or if we attempt for negotiations".

"**_However I must inform you, that voting for the latter, would be a grave mistake on our part_**". The crowd hushed at the new arrival. The doors swinging open from a darkened red corridor. A black being completely devoid of any protection or guard strolled in. It's four extremely strong arms almost silent against the metal floor, and it's deep grey eyes flicked around the room, already likely marking potential threats.

"Nott'Einfari, we didn't expect you".

"_**That's because my ship was diverted from Yggdrasil, I expected to be sent back to mars fleet shipyards, or Elysium. Not directly to Arcturus. Now tell me Hackett, why do I have a report that says we lost hundreds of our brethren in battle**_".

He gulped, staring at an angry night fury was like going for a swim in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, still radioactive years later.

"It was likely a mistake on the Asari's part, firing on the _Pillar of Autumn_ thinking it was a Turian ship".

She had reached the podium by now and was now stood on it. Despite being on all fours, she was still as tall as Hackett, and he could bet his admirals pin that Udina was shitting himself, the bastard was practically terrified of the female night fury, probably something to do with how she carried herself.

Unlike him, while she certainly was manipulative and scheming, she did not do it for personal gain. She did everything to protect her kind, and by extension the Archia federation, and he had foolishly challenged her loyalty, only to find himself pressed against the barrel of a cannon with a claw on his neck, with Einfari dedicated to tearing him apart, should he every have proved to be corrupt.

"**_This wasn't a mistake. 'Mistakes' are not firing a nuclear yield round on a frigate. A mistake is forgetting to stop charging a blast when sneezing. This is a declaration of war, and if we fold for peace, we will be seen as weak. Incapable of protecting ourselves_**".

Udina stood, "But they attack us either way, and even if we are prepared we still won't be avoiding war, at least with negotiations we have a chance". Einfari froze, turning and fixing the director with a glare which could crack a neutron star.

"_**My job is to protect all of dragon and humankind. If we push them back, and show they are not the all powerful overlords they think they are we appear strong. I have spoken to several turians, they are convinced that the vast majority of asari do not wish for war, and that the higher ups only attacked because they suspected a jackpot**_".

She now spoke directly to Udina, "_**If you wish to run with your tail between your legs and ask for peace then be my guest, but if you do anything that results in harm, I will not hesitate to make your life hell**_".

Thor damnit he was having difficult keeping the smile off his face at Udina's surprised look. That woman was amazing with how she so effortlessly defeated the man.

"As I was saying, in this case we have sent a proposal, vote for war, or peace". A notification appeared on everyone's screens, and the room was filled with hushed chatter. Hackett checked the file, followed by Avescerala, and was pleased to see that projected military numbers where made to appear much more powerful. Emphasising how far out of the river the asari had gone. Referring to their largest ships as battlecruisers. Figures on the crushing defeat on the asari frigate in the skies over Freezing-to-Death. As the leaders submitted their votes, the chatter died down. And throughout the entire time Einfari was still glaring at Udina.

"The vote has been received from all colony leaders", said Viggo.

"124 voted for negotiations to occur, and the total vote for war was... 1342. 56 are undecided". He put down the datapad. "The decision has been made, I will call the security council to draft a declaration of war, and mobilisation of the fleets will begin instantly. So Say We all".  
The room echoed with a repeat of the motto, "**So Say We All**".

One by one the representatives left the room, and he could only think of one thing. I'm not getting any sleep tonight.

As Hackett turned to go, Viggo stopped him. "Hackett I may have some assets you can make use of, the first is this". He handed a datapad over, and Hacketts eyes widened.

"The Normandy class Stealth Destroyer.

New developments with element zero drives gifted by a scuttled turian destroyer have allowed us to reintegrate a brand new dimensional drift manifold, which allows the ship to move at near lightspeed even while under a cloak. The Internal Emission sinks of the Normandy's hull allow it to completely avoid thermal detection, while stealth proof plating and radar jamming make it completely immune to technological detection. For all intensive purposes, the Normandy class is invisible, only detectable by LIDAR or visual detection, which is only effective in a 5 kilometre range at most".

"You saying what I think you're saying".

"Its finished. Just got released from the Utopia fleet shipyards, and it needs a CO". He held a single hand up to his whiskery chin. "Rear Admiral Anderson. A true patriot. He's an excellent tactician. Used to be in Fury corps. Then his dragon friend became a politician".

"Einfari?".

"Einfari".

"I knew she got her suspicions about Udina from somewhere, and those two are about as opposite as one can get before relativistic effects start kicking in". They both chuckled. "Anyway, aside from the CO, we need a director for the marine contingent, and I think you're gonna like my suggestion". He switched over to the side, and Hacketts smile grew.

"Oh I feel so bad for the Asari. First Avescerala is running the counterattack, then Heift is leading an attack on their homeworld and now? Let's just say, I don't think the empire will be around much longer". He nodded,

"Nevertheless we still have work to do. Get me an OAI team, and send them into Asari space. I want them to try and contact these republicans. Maybe we can avoid all-out war".

**_ASW Deathbringer_, Archian Donnager class Flagship**

**[play file labelled as '3']**

In the depths of the Deathbringer, the armoury was silent. Until without warning about 100 marines clad in armour burst in. Almost immediately they began opening lockers. Ammunition was taken and distributed among them, as they loaded plasma shells into their sidearms, and began the process of cleaning their main weapons. Such was the case during a war. Grenades, designed to release a deadly stream of explosive energy where triple checked for flaws, and loaded onto belts. At the rate they could travel, the journey to Freezing to Death could take as little as 2 hours once the fleets had been mobilised, and that meant suiting up and loading the guns now, to ensure they where ready. Throughout the other armouries on all of the ships, PA systems announced in distinctly feminine voices, 'All Archian soldiers, please retrieve weapons and head to battlestations. Departure from Arcturus in 1 hour'.

On another ship, a squad of engineers began loading massively heavy artillery shells onto a 'Shieldmaiden' main battle tank. The canisters loading snugly into the main body, completely safe until the safety was removed. In conjunction, belts of 30 millimetre rounds where loaded into the machine guns onboard dropships and on the various fighters and bombers throughout the fleet. Explosive missiles which carried enough energy to turn sand into glass where manoeuvred on Gronkle tugged carts and slotted onto the Aurora and Raptor craft, while thousands of tons of explosives, napalm and Willie Peat was loaded onto the bomber squadrons. After being fully loaded, the planes where taxied over to the main launch catapults, and where left attached to nuclear fired magnetic accelerators, which would propel them to take-off speed on undocking with Arcturus.

10 minutes ticked by, and soon people began preparing the railguns. Massive tungsten slugs, designed to be fired from any railgun where dragged across the various stations, and loaded into the massive magazines onboard the ships which where lucky enough to mount railguns. Similar mixtures, containing a set of mirrors designed to reflect laser beams where loaded on ships with magneto-hydrodynamic projection cannons, which would be hit with a huge amount of energy, then sent flying through coilguns to obliterate enemy vessels.

"_Attention all crew, fighter launch in 12 minutes, please man battlestations and launch positions_".

The turian fleet had prepared by 20 minutes in, and had left already, since their FTL was far slower. But mainly to make room, as a pair of 500 meter tall metallic crabs with dual railguns and a weapons complement which would make a frigate blush where fixed onto the Deathbringer and crewed with hundreds of people, such was the requirements when running an ANGEL class assault platform. The legs where folded in, making them look like giant drop pods, but they where hiding the deadliest fighting platform in known space.

In the depths of ships, the fighters fixed in their magnetic launch tubes began to vibrate, before a mighty jet of steam was let loose, and they rocketed forward at 9gs. On leaving the bulk of a Valkyrie class, the swarm pulled round in an enormous loop. Across the entire system. Hundreds of other ships where carrying out similar operations, and the swarm consisting of hundreds, soon turned to thousands of aircraft, before they engaged their magnetic outer clamps and attached themselves to the outer hull, ready to join with the craft when it entered FTL.

Then, in a glorious display, hydraulic docking ports on the outer hull where withdrawn from the door, and the entire ship vibrated as the reactors where suddenly pushed to full power. The few civilian ships had to be ordered out of the way of the largest fleet every to assemble since the Rachni wars. With a massive Donnager class. The light carriers of the patrol fleet, the _Verocity_ and the _Indominant_ took up their escort positions around the fleet, as their own fighters where prepped for the extremely complex task of blowing up the enemy.

In the Deathbringer itself. Avescerala was marching down a corridor, making final preparations, while talking to her XO. "What's the status of the railguns".

"All main turrets are online and warmed up. Magazines full".

"Magneto cannons".

"We where stripping the conductance coils to increase efficiency so we had to remove the containers. We've refitted them, its not much, but its enough for at least 12 seconds per gun".

"Okay, keep me updated". He nodded, before scurrying off.

"PDC Controls?" she yelled from her position.

"All cannons are fully loaded with 40 millimetre rounds, and the targeting algorithms can shoot the wings off a fly from 12 kilometres". She nodded, "All forces, prepare for acceleration". She headed back into the bridge. "All engines ahead flank".

"Aye sir all engines ahead flank". The gargantuan Epstein drives on the rear of the vessels lit up, and the ship began accelerating forward with far more force than one would think. As it manoeuvred into position, it was followed by hundreds of other ships. Within their hull, torpedoes where loaded into their appropriate, magazines, all plasma or flechette classification, while the tanks and dropships where connected, ready to drop onto Freezing-to-Death.

From her vantage point on the spire of the Deathbringer, she could see as hundreds of smaller frigates and other vessels began closing and spinning up. Her own ship began to distort as the negative point drives lowered the relative mass of light, raising it's speed limit. The light from outside was completely bent by the field, similar to how one would perceive looking into water or thick glass.

The guns on the outside where brightly lit by spotlights, and just staring at them made her feel powerful. In the distance, the last ship, a Thor class hit its FTL threshold, and disappeared from space. Green lights where displayed across all of her systems. Her crew was standing by. All of her fighters and raptors where attached to the outer hull, the dropships where in the hangar bays, ready to take off while the bombers remained in the magnetic tubes for a quick launch.  
The main cannons where still oriented forward, but she could almost see the sparks of electricity jumping from rail to rail as they sent their deadly payloads towards the enemy fleet. Every dragon onboard was with their humans. All saddled up and fitted with as many kinetic barriers as the turians could spare. The most elite soldiers humanity had to offer, with the deadliest dragons in all of history had already boarded.

And the Fury Corps where bloodthirsty.

Finally, she gave the order. "Take us in".

The fleet shot forward into the night. Leaving trails of high energy particles, which decorated the rim of the system, occasionally interspaced by a distorted section of space,

which had not yet recovered from the manoeuvre.

**Hiccup Haddock, Freezing-to-Death Command Center**  
The first time he had arrived at the command center, he had been entirely focused on getting Toothless back, and so had ignored much of the amazing technology which was scattered around. Now he wouldn't get to see it, as it seemed like much of it was being packed away. Most of the weapons had been loaded onto those vehicle things the humans seemed to use. Anything which was damaged was currently in a pile which a pair of soldiers was drenching in monstrous nightmare gel, apparently to prevent the enemy from using it. All around him, soldiers weary and streaked with blood and dirt where loading into trucks, or heading out in squads of four.

As he moved through the courtyard with Toothless on his heels, he could see the dish-like shapes on the concrete building being deconstructed and taken down, while General Williams was shouting orders to a pair of engineers. "Uhh, General Williams?".

"Ahh Hiccup, we're packing up the base and moving on". He was mystified, Packing up? The alien things where attacking, surely it made more sense to stay where they where and hold the line. "Why? Surely we need to hold the position". Williams shook his head, "The scouts spotted an armour column 2 clicks south. We're withdrawing to the bunkers to protect the civilians. We can't let them fall". Hiccup could see the intelligence behind it, reducing the total space needed to defend.

"What about me?". Williams grabbed a crate of ammunition, regular plasma cannisters by the looks of them. "You ain't technically under my command. Though...". He looked around before leaning in, "There's a decommissioned freighter half a click north. But it's reactor is active still. I'd appreciate it if you could make another asari commando division... play dead".

"You want me to kill people? I did it before to rescue Toothless, but what if I could reason with them".

The man slowly put the crate down. "Reasoned with? They're fighting us because they where ordered to. If they deny us, their boss kills them, or locks them up".

Hiccup wouldn't give up though, "But what if we could...".

"It's not possible, the blues want a war and we have to defend the civilians. We just blew up one of their frigates, there's no way they're going to let that go, and if they-". He didn't get to finish, before a distant, very loud bang echoed out. Hiccup snapped round and stared into the sky, looking for the source. All he could see where a few dozen faint lights in the sky.

"ORBITAL STRIKE". He didn't grasp the meaning of the words, until Williams grabbed him and pulled him behind and a barricade.

The array of mass accelerators slammed into the ground with huge force, sending up massive plumes of dust. The vibrations from the strike rippled out and caused buildings across the colony to simply collapse from the force. Dust shook from every surface, and he heard a heart wrenching cry.

As he turned he saw a horrifying sight. A young Nadder, barely even mature as her tail spikes where not yet grown in, had been pierced by a falling piece of debris, and she was crying, massive tears from her green eyes as she struggled weakly. _Those people are like Grimmel, they don't even care. Gobber told me what he did to the other warlords, and now these people are doing the same_.

His fists tightened, he made a decision. "Where's this freighter". Williams pulled up a wounded soldier, who had a massive cut across his leg. "Half a click north". He hopped onto Toothless, "I'll be right back". Williams grunted as he supported the wounded man, helping him into a truck. "Status on the strike".

A radio operator tweaked the settings on a short range FM radio. "The accelerators pierced D-Block, killed a dozen or so civilians and set off an arms store, injuring about a hundred people. It was a miracle the damage was so little". The soldier pulled himself up weakly onto a pallet and leaned back against the wall. Williams sighed as his men looked dead, completely out of morale or hope. A distant bang shook the landscape, and he vaguely registered a shrieking cry before it occurred.

Williams knew they couldn't keep this up, he had to save the civilians. "Get me a broadcast to the alien fleet in orbit". The entire camp appeared to still. "You heard me, contact their flagship". The radio operator nodded mutely, likely too tired to care. A short beep sounded out. "You're in".

He took a deep breath. "Unknown aliens. You are now killing innocent civilians of the Archian Federation. What is it you want". There was a pause, before a creepy feminine voice replied, "_Hmm, who is this?_".

"General Williams of the Archian Military, please hold your fire, you are killing non-combatants". Another pause, this time with some faint moving around, "_Surrender to the Asari Empire, and we will hold fire on the colony_".

His fists clenched. The absolute bastards where demanding a surrender or they would open fire on the civilians. He looked around, his soldiers looked horrified, and Hiccup was nowhere to be found. "On behalf of the Archia Federation, the Freezing-to-Death garrison is ordered to lay down their arms. We surrender".

"_Glad to hear it general. My troops will handle prisoners_". He sighed and switched off the radio. "Destroy everything they could get technology from. Scuttle the tanks, and tell any special forces we have to disappear. I want to know they're keeping their word". He nodded mutely, before switching channels to the Archia military channel. "This is general Williams. All troops lay down your arms. We can't risk the civilian populace, we're surrendering to the Empire. I repeat, we are surrendering".

As an afterthought, he switched to a top secret military channel only for special forces and psionic forces. "Special force operatives and Psi operatives, this order does not stem to you. Keep an eye on the blues. Do not let them kill the civilians". He switched off the radio completely, before slamming his pistol into it, destroying it.  
In the sky, he watched as blue flashes lit up the landscape. Transport following transport. And no-one, and nothing was left now to fight them. Freezing-to-Death belonged to the Asari.

* * *

"_War is an inherently unstable interaction between three things. Intense emotion, Politics and Luck_", Anders Kongur, The Rachni Wars, Shortly before the disappearance of _Galactica._


	12. CQB

Space was a unique entity, the closest something got to absolute zero. Full of tiny, elemental particles which continually popped in and out of existence. Which was why it was so easy to detect enemy vessels in the vacumn. Without active cooling and a radar resilient shape, detecting and finding enemy vessels was very easy. Unfortunately, this meant that the fastest you can possible detect an enemy ship is dependant on their distance away. While dodging a railgun round is easy in principle, actually recognising when the ship is firing is one thing, being able to triangulate what ship is being targeted was another matter entirely. The asari mass accelerators fired unattainable fast compared to human accelerators, they travelled at 1% lightspeed on average, meaning that if a shot was fired from 100 light-seconds away, the fleet had only 99 seconds to react after detection.

This meant that distances like 1 light-second was a huge danger zone for the Archian vessels, as they would have a tiny amount of time to react. Their railguns barely broke 0.01% lightspeed, meaning that while they did far more explosive damage (accelerators where designed to penetrate while railguns expand and flatten on impact). It also meant that any distance which wasn't within thousands of kilometres was fairly easy to dodge, especially for ships with element zero thrusters. Thankfully, this same problem was countered, by the kinetic barriers, which would once again prove to be completely inadequate against the railguns slugs, unless they raised the sensitivity by a factor of 100, which would eat through power and limit their effective shot limit and range.

**[Play track 4]**

Put simply, the Archian fleet was like a Typhoomerang, powerful and designed for close range combat, while the Asari fleet was like a Night Fury, possessing a powerful but short shot limit. Except unlike a night fury, the asari would fail completely in close quarters combat. Avescerala would exploit this ruthlessly during her battle. "All ships, prepare for the drop out of hyperspace". The bar slowly ticked down. "Aaaand, boom".

There was a slight ripple, before the space began to rapidly oscillate blue. Hundreds of warships dropped out. Each of them rapidly decelerated from FTL speeds and came to a relatively slow speed in orbital terms, with the asari fleet directly to their bows, and their Epstein drives burning at full velocity. Hundreds of smaller ships extended their PDCs, which had been stowed for the journey. Now the miniguns extended outwards on turrets, and began picking targets. The railguns, all swivelled round, making an already imposing fleet look unstoppable, as armour plates on the _Loki_ class vessels where raised to cover their blind spots. Avescerala only felt pride as she watched the formation perfectly accelerate as one. "All fleets and squadrons report in, repeat all fleets and squadrons report in".

"_Turian Fleet reporting_". The bird-like turian vessels remained in the center, protected by Archian and their own frigates.

"Federation Fleet reporting". The bulky and powerful human vessels remained on the outside of the formation, their railguns now lighting up with energy.

"_Recon and Artillery fleets reporting_", Smaller vessels and destroyers remained way back. out of range of the asari completely, but dozens of torpedoes dropped from their sides, already accelerating to combat speed.

"_All Fighter and Bomber squadrons reporting_". The strike craft formed a defensive wall at the front of the formation, with the bombers and assault raptors tucked in behind them.

On the asari fleet, Lidanya was having the complete opposite reaction. "Launch all fighters, load all weapons and for spirits sake someone get the goddamn auxiliary fleet through the relay". "We can't reach the auxiliary fleet, the enemy are jamming comms". The massive enemy fleet didn't outnumber her own, but their flagship was far bigger than the Ascension.

"Contacts, several thousands strike craft and corvette sized vessels are heads straight for us".

She began to smile, "They're wasting their fighters? What the hell is that big ship for?". The lieutenant, passed over a datapad, "It's carrier sir, designed almost exclusively to launch fighters, but packing the same firepower as their two smaller dreadnought sized warships". She laughed, "These primitives are brave, but foolish. Carriers, what kind of homeworld-bound species uses them? Prep the GUARDIAN".

"Range to fighters ETA 20 seconds". Without warning, the swarm dashed sideways, revealing the true threat. "Missiles detected, oh Armali help us. Thousands of missiles incoming, 10% targeted on us,the rest on the fleet". Her smile vanished. "Target the missiles, target the missiles. Target everyone SOMEBODY FIRE!". The _Ascension_ fired all four bow guns, sending the slugs careening towards the fighters. They narrowly missed, and all across the asari fleet, every single gun they had began firing desperately on the missiles. Dozens where taken down, but it wouldn't help. As thousands struck. The entire system seemed to light up as torpedo following torpedo slammed into the vessels. Armour plates vaporized, entire decks became consumed by plasma. Several nuclear warheads detonated well out of fireball range, but the ionising radiation from the neutrino warheads left twelve frigates silent, their crews dead from acute radiation poisoning, the ships awaiting recovery at a later date.

Overall, the initial missile barrage damaged most ships in the asari fleet, and destroyed several. The _Destiny Ascension_ itself was in terrible shape. While it had managed to overcome most of the torpedoes, one of the forward batteries had taken a flechette torpedo, and the metal shards had tore apart the wing containing it, leaving a crewless void where several decks had once been. Lidanya struggled to rise, as sparks and smoke rose from several exploding consoles, destroyed by electrical feedback. "S.. Status".

"Missile barrage is finished, ETA to GUARDIAN range on enemy fighters 5 seconds". She rose and brushed off pieces of plastic and debris from a fallen console. "Get the GUARDIAN online, network the fleet's computers". The crewmembers looked horrified, "But it makes it easier to hack us, and if-".  
"I DON'T CARE. Destroy the fighters, then we hit them with everything we've got". They nodded, "All ships network GUARDIAN systems and open fire on the fighters.

As the swarm neared, the bombers at the rear of the formation extended manned gunnery positions, the turrets constantly swivelling to keep an eye out for enemy fighters. As the Asari fighter screen (which had been left untouched by the missile barrage) began firing on the human fighters, they found themselves severely outnumbered. The fighter pilots of the Archian federation chose to target the Asari ships with radar guided missiles, while some of the more experienced fighter pilots chose to strafe with their autocannons. Thankfully, the asari pilots had a significant advantage, as fighter-grade kinetic barriers where far more sensitive, and it took sometimes several seconds of continuous fire from the human fighters to get through the shields, however that is where the dragons came in. 124 Nadders accompanied by other agile craft, all within their own kinetic barrier sheaths designed to allow space combat, used their magnesium blasts to cut through the hull of the asari fighters without needing to get through the shields.

These nadders where far more agile than any other craft seen before, and the asari tried to rectify this by launching shuttles with gimballed turrets. Big mistake. The assault raptors of the federation where waiting, and as soon as the shuttles left the hangar, pounced on them, using concentrated fire to overwhelm their defences, destroying them. Within minutes, the entire asari strike craft screen had been reduced to their much tougher interceptors and several surviving fighters, leaving the fleet at the mercy of the bombers.

Unfortunately, the nadders weren't the only trick up the Archians sleeve. A few dozen zipplebacks, accompanied by razorwings and nightmares descended from the formation, onto a crippled asari battleship. The gas produced by the Zippleback blasted apart the hangar door controls, opening it up to the void, and boarding parties began to drop in, led by Wingmaidens. They fought effortlessly, as a squadron of terrible terrors and night terrors where let loose in the ventilation shafts. These dragons spread quickly, constantly causing chaos across the ship by redirecting the marines trying in vain to repel the boarders, which by now had reached engineering, and where systematically venting every single deck on the ship.

Outside the battleship, the fight continued to rage, with the majority of the escorting vessels obliterated, the railguns and mass accelerators finally began to fire on each other's actual fleets. Naturally the asari vessels focused most of their fire on the Deathbringer, but they where unable to cause major damage. One of the railguns exploded from an over-penetrating accelerator round, and 3 PDCs where destroyed completely, with three decks venting from the hull. But the _Deathbringer_ seemed to take particular interest in the _Destiny Ascension_. Its massive dorsal gun turrets rotated, and the barrels began to rapidly glow a deep yellow. Without warning, two solid beams lanced out from the cannon.

As they struck, the entire battlefield seemed to still. The molten tungsten travelling at 12% lightspeed, completely obliterated the silaris plating of the asari super-dreadnought. The kinetic barriers put up a small fight, but the sheer power of the cannon caused them to pop within 5 seconds. The molten tungsten barrage continued through the ship, exploding as the components where heated to a temperature comparable to the surface of a star. The barrage finally dissipated after 12 seconds, with the shells now completely empty and the capacitors drained. The gun ejected the empty cartridge into space, and now focused the attention of its PDCs on the _Ascension_. Watching the two largest ships fly into a perfect broadside position, then unload everything they had was a completely under-appreciated term for what happened, as the space between the two ships became a vacumn-less corridor of 40 millimetre rounds, laser blasts, mass accelerator rounds, short range torpedoes and many more projectiles. The dreadnought buckled under the strain, and soon after the entire rear of the ship exploded. The blue glowing plating flickering out forever as tendrils of lightning leapt from ship to ship in a fascinating light show physicists would spend months debating over.

The force pushed the wreckage to an in-ordinate speed, and a single unlucky shot struck one of the hangar bays of the _Deathbringer_, resulting in the deck being vented into space. Not a problem for those who had dragons, more of a problem for the deck crews trying to carry out damage control. By the time the smoke had cleared, the _Deathbringer_ had a completely scorched starboard hull, with tiny fires igniting all over the armour plates, most of it just for aesthetics. The _Ascension_ however, was gutted. The drive core of the vessel found itself trying to sustain a reaction with thousands of tiny 40 millimetre holes through the vessel, and thankfully, it barely avoided a catastrophic meltdown in time. But it left the ship dead in the water. Doomed for boarding teams to arrest every single marine, crewmen and leader on-board, including the leader of the entire fleet, one Fleet Admiral Lidanya.

After the destruction of the _Ascension_, the morale of the asari seemed to disappear. The frigates and cruisers remaining (almost all of the larger warships had found themselves under brutal CQB engagements with Archian wolfpacks) where laying down their weapons and choosing not to fight. Overall, the battle for Freezing-to-Death had cost the Archians 15,000 lives and dragons, but the battle had cost the asari far more, with over 135,000 asari dying, and a further 60,000 severely wounded. They lost their entire fleet in the battle, (which was eventually gifted to the quarians in return for the human and dragon embassy on the Rayya) and their ground force was trapped, fighting a battle which they didn't know they had lost.

* * *

**Freezing-to-Death, Outer Colony Battlefield, Hiccup Haddock**  
Hiccup raised his sword, and fired another burst. The blue beam lanced out, striking an Asari and killing her instantly, something which by now he was getting used to. He was currently ducking down in a trench with a dozen other men. Mainly special forces. A couple even seemed to have control of magic! They would use their minds, to create swirling vortexes of purple, and focus this in a thin beam which completely ignored cover. Or they would use it to create whirlpools which disabled weapons before exploding soon after. Or they would actually attack an individual, and tear their mind apart. (Something he did not want any further information on)

"Hiccup! I need some ammo". He grabbed a blue cannister from his belt and tossed it over, "It's my last one". He loaded it, and immediately swung his hammer across the line, smashing through one of the small drones the asari used. They where about knee height, very white with a black face and red optical sensors. Looking like robotic dogs they tended to use electricity as a weapon and they where annoying to deal with. "Keep firing!". He raised his sword and expertly scored another shot, but his weapon bleeped, and let out a puff of steam, overheated. "No!". He heard another plasma bolt fired next to him, and the whine which followed sawed at his heartstrings. Both he and Toothless where exhausted. Having been caught in an ambush when the asari had actually created a minefield.

All of a sudden, the battlefield went quiet. The tracers stopped, and the asari stopped firing completely. When he peeked his head up, he couldn't see anything. "The hellheim?". He rose quickly, not an Asari in sight! Next to him, Lee loaded his last round into his shotgun. "Where the hell did they go".  
"You know, I'm surprised you held out this long". He snapped round. Tela Vasir. The commando was stood with about twenty others at extremely close range. All held grenade launchers or other heavy weapons. "I've been reading a little on some human game. I believe this is what you call, checkmate". He sighed, it was over. "Vasir, again?". He dropped the sword. "Hello Hiccup". He crossed his arms, and the soldiers surrounding her tensed, but she remained steadfast with a smirk. "Just thought you should know, I found this rat sneaking around our camp". She dragged a figure from behind her. The blue tattoos had been replaced with scratches, blood covered his left arm, and he was limping from where a bullet wound had obviously landed on his body. "H... Hey guys".

Zaeed immediately softened, "Jesse, what the hell happened". He chuckled weakly, "Guess they didn't appreciate the gift I left them on one of their tanks. Turns out that napalm stuff is a hell of a burner". Zaeed chuckled, "Glad to see you again". Tela laughed, a cold and chilling sound. "Aww, look at you, all reunited, after you murdered the asari on the_ Dawn of Tranquility"_. Jesse chuckled weakly, and as the commandoes and the other soldiers surrounded them, he noticed they took extra care with the weapons, at his enquiring look, she saw fit to explain. "They have a tendency to blow up, lost a half dozen of my squad trying to recover them before they get their face melted off by plasma".

He was forced to his knees by a soldier, and the stock of a weapon rammed into his gut. After years of battles, riding a dragon, and in some cases before any of that, being beaten up by Snotlout and some other bully called Dogsbreath, it was a relative tap. Toothless growled, as asari surrounded him. "Toothless stand down, they win this round". The dragon stopped, but kept a single eye on them. "Move them to the camp".

Ten minutes of sullen silence later, he had been marched back through the woods, and back into the Asari camp, where dozens of armoured vehicles roamed around. Within moments the special forces had been forced to their knees. "Now, I want you all to know something", Vasir spoke.  
"I was a SPECTRE, back during those days, I could do anything I want, and not be questioned. Now, while our fleets make short work of your pitiful civilization". Lee flinched and she sneered, "And while we wipe out the sorry excuses for warriors you call the turians". Jesse struggled against his restraints, obviously angry at the description. "I need to keep all of you idiots in line... So, I've got a system that works. If you try to kill any Asari, I will shoot you". She pulled out her weapon, "If you try to escape I will shoot you". She then loaded a clip, well technically it was a thermal coolant device which was jettisoned once used. "If you step out of line I will kill you". He was beginning to see a theme here.

"And to prove to you that I am not joking, lets show you how little I care for your lives". She then clicked her gun and began to slowly pace around the cluster of soldiers "Eeeny, Meeny, Miney Mo". She had obviously learnt human culture then, knowing it would unnerve them. Well it worked. "Catch a sunfish, by its toe". She continued pacing, her eerie smile growing with every step. "If it struggles, let it go". She began pointing her pistol at the various operatives. "Eeeny, meeny, miney moe". She stopped. And her smile almost split her face in two. "If anyone moves, cut the boys other leg off and feed it to his pet, do the same for his pet's other tailfin and then we'll start". She pulled the slider at the side back. "You can breath, you can blink, you can cry. Hell you're all gonna be doin' that soon". The gun went off. A sand grain sized piece of lead lanced out at Mach 11.

Jesse collapsed to the ground, the bullet going straight through his head. Zaeed bellowed out loud, "NOOOOOOO!". The dragons roared, slamming themselves against their cages, and all of the men struggled against their restraints. Hiccups mind was blank, unable to comprehend what happened. Next to him, one of the fellow special forces spoke out, "You just killed an unarmed man you sick bitch, what kind of a sad planet do you come from". She turned round, staring at them both with that same creepy smile. The sunlight catching her eyes might have made her beautiful, had she not been a complete maniac. "Well you just did the same". She shot him, this time the bullet striking his neck. Once again Zaeed bellowed out and the dragons roared. She laughed maniacally, and threw some sort of purple gel at him, it struck his neck, and began forming an odd meld around the wound. Her smile however, was completely wiped, when another soldier approached and began whispering something in her ears.

**[play track 5]**

She kept glancing over at the circle of humans, and soon, her voice hardened. "Load the AA guns, and for goddess' sake alert the entire colony". She grabbed a large rifle from the ground and hurried off somewhere. Several other soldiers forced them up, and as they looked towards the lake to the west of the colony. Hiccup swore there was something odd about the water, how it seemed to rise into a wall of mist in the distance. _Wait a minute_. The wall of fog was... it was getting closer! He tapped Lee and pointed, "what the hell is that?".

He looked towards the wall of fog, and smiled. "Its the Federation".

Across the lake, dozens of aircraft pulled up out of their low altitude skimming run and almost immediately, began firing their autocannons towards the asari, which countered with bursts of magnetic accelerator fire. The lead ship, an Aurora fighter began firing two odd protrusions which had extended from its fuselage. Three expertly aimed shots took out all three commandoes surrounding him, and Hiccup took the opportunity to grab his sword.  
A mass accelerator narrowly missed his shoulder, and three plasma beams later, they where home free. All around him, dozens of soldiers dismounted, as Typhoomerang lay down massive vortexes of fire which consumed whole groups of asari. In the sky, Assault raptors tore the new frigate apart, their cannons and rocket pods constantly keeping an endless stream of fire on the frigate.

One of the Aurora's pulled over his head, missing by a few feet, and obliterating an asari fighter. As it pulled round into a massive loop, it destroyed two more, as Hiccup lunged forward and swung his sword across another commando. The same aurora continued its massive loop, taking out an entire group of fighters, as Hiccup threw a small green canister at one of the AA guns, which was trying to take down the aurora. At the same time, Toothless lunged out from behind a cart.

"Hey bud... how's life?". The dragon gave a throaty grumble and fired a plasma blast across the battlefield, tearing an APC apart. "Same here. what about we head up and start showing these guys who rules the skies". He dashed forward and jumped onto the saddle. By some miracle, the asari had not tampered with his rig, and he lifted of onto the air. The fighter from earlier shot past, taking out a shuttle, and Hiccup began using his sword to keep suppressive fire on the ground. The fighter continued it's graceful arcs around the battlefield, taking down ship after ship, soldier after soldier while Hiccup and Toothless expertly dispatched the stragglers.

As it flew directly overhead, it fired a missile from beneath, which plunged into a circular vehicle causing a massive mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke to begin rising, and destroying three more AA guns. "WHOOOOOO, THAT'S ONE HELL OF A PILOT". Hiccup looked around, all across the camp, asari where laying down their weapons. In the distance. the few remaining shuttles and fighters had obviously had enough, and powered away, much quicker, but also much weaker and less armed than the Federation counterparts. All across the colony, yells of victory and the roars of dragons announced the Archian victory over the asari.

In orbit, the entire event was being broadcast back to Arcturus station, and the celebrations rippled across Archian space. From the shipyards at mars, to the outer colonies of Cyrannus to the military strongholds of Sparta and Bastion. Billions of humans and dragons all revelling in their decisive victory

over an aggressive race.

It would not be the first.

/

"_The Heirarchy pays defence contractors to build aircraft carriers. Archia pays researchers and engineers to do whatever the hell they want_', Rear Admiral Natalie Heift.


	13. Formal Declaration

One of the things I'd like to say, so the way the dragons are integrated with the humans is similar to how it was done on berk. While most are bonded to humans, many are not and simply live with them. In this alternate reality of HTTYD, even the notorious screaming death has or will be bonded. The only dragons I have not included are the Bewilderbeast and the Red Death for plot reasons. Though Drago's one didn't disappear.

There will also be no talking between humans and dragons. Well not that we can understand. Humans will still be able to understand dragons to the extent that we understand our pets. If my cat Lucky is rubbing against my leg in the kitchen, while meowing loudly she wants food.

As for the night furies, they are still extremely rare, however there is a specific branch of the Archia military which uses them. Not only that, but they all belong to different families. They are also the exception to the above rule.

Thanks to Vigo Grimborn for the culture and naming methods used by night furies, and thanks also to him, for his amazing ideas on how they work as a species. Go and read his story 'Living Vicariously' and the sequel 'Living Anonymously' (spelt that wrong) because they are AMAZING. Even for a dedicated Hiccstrid shipper like me.  
Anyway, the opening of this chapter was inspired by the season 3 opening of the expanse. I recommend you watch it as it gives a clear thematic tone for the entire montage.

Link is below:

h _ t _ t _ p _ s : / / drive . google open ? id = 1QKjrYgt7EFiqv1tCaSIsunYm3XbhOkJJ

remove spaces and underscores

* * *

**Thessia, Asari Homeworld**  
"_\- As unknown psionic readings fluctuate across asari space, experts are now turning their instruments towards the Attican traverse as FTL signals only possible from psionically active species plague deep space relays. This is due to what multiple independent sources are calling a Dragon -_"

**Palevan, Turian Homeworld**  
"_-In what many believe is a prelude to war. Planetary defences across Archian space have been placed on high alert alongside the mobilisation of all assault infantry battalions. Fleets where dispatched from Palevan and Menae to reinforce Archian fleets in the Arcturus Stream and Outer colonies. After the Asari brutally attacked a human colony, the Empire has yet to-_"

**Earth, Human and Dragon Homeworld**  
"_-Have suffered from the Imperialism of the Asari for far too long, and now their aggressive actions have brought us to the brink. If the dictators and barbarians of the galaxy wish to test our will in battle, then we will gladly return the favour._  
_We are ready. We will not back down, and neither will our allies in the Turian Heirarchy or within Asari Space itself. Our people are united with a common purpose, Archia shall prevail-_"

**Quarian Migrant Fleet, Unknown**  
"_\- Copy that Rayya, unconfirmed reports suggest Asari ships all across the turian front have been recalled to protect the fringe colonies near the traverse -_"

**Irlune, Annexed former Salarian Colony**  
"_\- is possible that the feelings of despair felt across the annexed space of the Asari empire are prevalent. Most peace-supporters and republicans believe that this time... all-out defensive war is inevitable_".

Gunfire ripped across the once peaceful landscape as missiles slammed into several cobbled together aircraft. Hundreds of sand grain sized slugs tore through rebel and asari soldiers alike, decorating the landscape with purple stains of blood. A few dozen armoured vehicles raced across the battlefield, and in the sky above, ships held together with literal rolls of tape and nails ran interdiction on a small Asari cruiser, which was attempting to go for help.

* * *

**Thessia, War Council**  
"Someone tell me what in the name of Armali is going on!". The senate building on Thessia, a huge domed building filled with the various representatives of the Asari Empire. "Ma'am, the situation is beginning to deteriorate. The turians have begun pushing into Asari space, our admirals believe they somehow managed to get 6 new fleets with brand new technology unlike we've ever seen". The blazing eyes of Matriarch Benezia turned to regard Matriarch T'Vassa, the fleet admiral of the Asari navy. "How the fuck, did the turians get 6 new fleets without us knowing".

"We aren't sure, but those numbers suggest they potentially threaten our own military with such a large force". She slammed a fist down on the table, "Impossible, no military can withstand the might of our navy. Hell it's impossible to even build ships the size of the Destiny Ascension, so why the hell do I have a report that the invasion force attacking that coward Arterius is being outsized thrice over?!". Silence, pure, unadulterated silence reigned across the building. "Well?".

At that moment, a new voice decided to announce itself. "Perhaps if the brainless idiots who made up the empire decided not to march over every race we encounter like some sort of barbaric despoilers, we wouldn't be under pressure from so many different avenues". Benezia regarded the new arrival with a smirk, "Tevos, how's commanding the most cowardly faction on Thessia going for you?".

"Better than you apparently, since we aren't losing 50 soldiers a minute to rebels and primitives". She leapt forward, "Don't you dare judge me!? The situation is far more complicated than -".

"Oh really, you attacked a sovereign nation and expect them to just roll over? For being one of the oldest Asari in the galaxy you have the brain of a pyjack".

"Fine!? How would you solve this problem Tevos? What, 'age old wisdom' do you bring to the table? In what possible universe do you think that the whining suit wetters known as the republicans will actually be able to-". She didn't continued, and was shocked into silence, when the huge holoscreen in front of them flickered online.

All across Asari space, every holo-screen connected to the extranet did the same. On-screen now was a new creature. He was about the height of an asari. Dressed in an extravagant blue uniform, and flanked by several soldiers in silvery armour. Behind them stood several reptilian creatures, all stood in line and completely still. Behind the man was another reptile. Much more smooth-skinned than it's other counterparts. With slightly spiky fringes and bolts of electricity occasionally arcing from it's body. The man himself had black hair, and piercing brown eyes which bore into Benezia's soul. He also had a well sculptured beard and moustache, which made him look wise, but not old, as well as youthful, but not inexperienced. When he spoke, he did so with complete clarity in his tone and words. And he was completely confident.

"_Friends, dragons, foes. At precisely 2:45, on the 12th of January, the peaceful citizens of the Archian Federation came under a brutal, unprovoked attack from an imperialistic, and warmongering society known as the Asari Empire. Despite numerous attempts at peaceful negotiation, they marched an entire battlefleet up to Freezing-to-Death, and they killed the brave men and women stationed on our own ships._

_To honour the noble sacrifice of the Pillar of Autumn and it's counterparts, and to ensure the safety of all those within the Federation, human and dragon alike, today we have formally issued a declaration of war on the brutally hegemonstic regime of the Asari Empire. They have killed our brethren, and they have tortured our new friends in the Turian Heirarchy for years. But TODAY! ON THIS DAY. WE SAY NO MORE. We will melt down the very foundations of such a xenophobic, authoritarian regime, and in doing so, will create a more peaceful place. So that dragon and human, can coexist in peace"_

The crowds surrounding the podium cheered loudly, and the smirk that the obvious leader of this race left, sent shivers down Tevos' spine. Not only that, but a document was sent to everyone's omni-tool, a document which read:

**Office for the Director of the Archian Federation**

**This is a formal declaration of war.**

**This letter, is a direct communication from the Archian Congressional Federation for the United Human and Dragon species, to the Asari Empire. From the date of 21st January 2600, any and all military operations between the Asari Empire and Archian Federation are justly allowed and will result in fair retribution. This is also true for the Asari Empire.**

**When the Pillar of Autumn was destroyed near Relay 314, a state of war existed between our two nations, and such a state will continue to exist, until such a time as negotiations determine either a ceasefire or a peace treaty, to be formally complete.**

**Signed Respectfully**

**Viggo Grimborn, Director of the Federation**

**Steven Hackett, Fleet Admiral**

**General Ryker Grimborn, General**

**Anita Goyle, Diplomatic Relations**

**Nott'Einfari, Night Fury Representative for Dragon-Human relations**

Shouts and cries began to echo out from the senate, as the truth sank in, that not only had Matriarch Lidanya encountered a new race. But this race was apparently declaring war on them for the loss of one of their vessels. The signatures below where all similar, with the exception of the bottom one, which was a claw mark. Painted in the shape of some sort of symbol.

"Goddess help us", someone muttered.

* * *

**Turian Fifth Recon Fleet, Captain Fedorian**  
Admiral Titus Fedorian of the Turian Heirarchy. Son of Primarch Tiberius Fedorian, watched proudly as his crew scuttled round, readying the weapons. Loading mass accelerators and disruptor torpedoes. The fighters and interceptors bad been loaded, and the RAMPART PDC grids where fully online. They where attempting a risky operation, to break through asari lines, and rescue a human deep space scout cruiser which had gone missing. "Give me the fleet, our fleet".

"Aye sir".

"This is the Dawn of Justice to turian fifth recon fleet, all ships report in, I repeat, all ships report in".

_"Frigate F32 Reporting"_

_"Cruiser, Invincible Faith reporting"_

_"Cruiser, Longsword reporting"_

_"Frigate G21 Reporting"_

On and on it went, with each ship confirming their state of readiness for the upcoming battle. "12 Frigates and 5 cruisers against an asari battlegroup, with those odds I'll be happy with two, maybe three kills". The deck burst into laughter, more from the nerves than anything. "Right lads, lets go take down those blues".

"YEAH!

"Who does the armies job for them?".

"THE NAVY!

"Who makes the air force look like pussies?"

"THE NAVY!

"Who enjoys getting spaced?

"THE NAVY!"

The ship jerked slightly as it entered FTL, the Mass effect cores whirring into action, firing them forth at speeds well beyond lightspeed. "Dropping from FTL in 3, 2, 1". The ship slowed suddenly, and they where introduced to a large field of debris. "Damn, is this all from our human friends?".  
Titus nodded, "Reports said they had two 'frigates' as an escort".

"And by that do they mean our classification of frigates, which are like tissue paper compared to their so-called frigates".

"Theirs, specifically the _Heisserer_ and the _Jermanez_". He nodded, "Take us forward, and start looking for IFFs". The ship's dual thrusters leapt into action, gently accelerating the mass forward. Occasionally bits of debris clunked off of the hull, completely ignored. As they continued to cruise through the debris field, they noticed something on the sensors. "Life signatures detected!".

"It's the _Enterprise_ sir". On-screen, a human covered in dirt and looking completely tired appeared. Sparks where dropping from behind him where an engineer in a torn jumpsuit was patching up an exposed circuit. "_This is the ANS Enterprize, my name is William Picard, Archia Navy Science division, to whom am I speaking to?_".  
"Enterprize this is the _Dawn of Justice_, Turian Heirarchy. We are moving to assist with fleet escort, authorisation code AD-4524-DF".

"_Solid copy Dawn of Justice, got to say you have no idea how-_".

"RADAR contact!, Massive asari battlefleet on intercept course". Red alarms across both ships began blaring, loudly proclaiming their imminent destruction at the hands of the asari. "Fire a full salvo of disruptor torpedoes at their battlecruiser".

"Aye sir". The tubes fixed to the underside of the turian ship opened up, before 32 missiles popped out, accelerating to breakneck speeds. 19 where slapped down by the battlecruiser and it's escorts PDC grids, but the remaining few struck the kinetic barriers of the ship. Tiny, swirling vortexes leapt into action, draining the kinetic barriers significantly faster than expected. Soon after the computer reported that the salvo had weakened the shields by 78%, a considerable portion. "All ships, open fire". The turian frigates began immediately firing their spinal mass accelerators, firing small iron rounds to a measurable portion of lightspeed. The asari fleet fired their own mass accelerators, which vastly out-numbered the turians.

The exploration cruiser pulled away from the debris field, and their impulse engines began accelerating them towards the battle. Almost immediately. They joined the few frigates, beginning to swat disruptor torpedoes from the air effortlessly. The torpedo launchers on the ship released their own deadly torpedoes, which managed to evade the asari missile defences. The salvo of plasma torpedoes struck at full power. The first 2 slammed into the hull of the asari ship, damaging and scoring the armour. Soon after multiple other missiles impacted the same spot. The plasma cooking any poor crewmen and women trapped in the impacted areas. By the time the salvo was complete, 12 decks had been partially vented to vacumn, and the battlecruiser had lost power to its portside spinal accelerator cannon.

As the two fleets neared, the frigates began sporadically focusing their RAMPART point defence lasers on what remained of the asari battlecruiser, with the _Enterprize_ firing what torpedoes it had left, and sweeping it's coilgun-enhanced 40mm cannons across the battlecruiser. A pair of Turian frigates fell to the GUARDIAN laser systems of the asari cruisers, and one of the cruisers faced destruction, when an over-penetrating accelerator round obliterated the torpedo bay, causing the disruptor torpedoes to detonate prematurely, leaving the ship crippled but still functional. "Captain Picard, I recommend you retreat now. We can't win".

"_Hell no. You sacrificed a your own ships to save us, and we aren't leaving you here to fight a losing battle alone. Take your fleet and rendezvous above the fourth planet. We found something odd on the surface_".

"Captain I must insist you retreat now, before you are-".

"_Now listen here captain. The brass sent you in to save us. But it was a waste of a flotilla. We where screwed the moment we let one of their corvettes escape. But what we found cannot be allowed to get out. If the empire gets a hold of it, it could mean the end of both of our races_".

"What could you have possibly discovered that important?"

"_An unknown ship. More advanced and powerful than anything we ever encountered before. Something that predates the Protheans_"

"Spirits, and if the Asari get a hold of it..."

"_They won't hesitate to use it. That's why where going to hold it, until we can't , then blow it up if we must_".

He didn't have to think, before he gave the order to retreat, before ordering a tightbeam to the _Longsword_.

"_Longsword_ this is _Dawn of Justice_... Status?".

_"Venting 28 decks. We lost control of our forward thrusters. We have fighters taking out our few remaining RAMPART turrets, and the blues snuck three boarding teams in engineering. We're crippled"._

"I'm sending the _Invincible Faith_ to reclaim-".

_"No, take the fleet to the fourth planet and blow the hell out of the blues for me. Victory at any cost"._

"Copy that _Longsword_. May the spirits fly with you",

"_And may they fly with you Dawn of Justice. Alright you bastards, Looks like today's a good day to die! Lets show them how sharp our teeth are. Ramming Speed!_". The thrusters of the turian cruiser exploded with energy. Pushing the crippled warship forward with remarkable power. Losing half her hull had made her extremely light, and many of the turian and asari marines onboard where crippled when they slammed into the bulkhead. The ship itself went straight for the battlecruiser. The kinetic barriers of the cruiser where non-existent, and significantly weakened for the battlecruiser. As the two ships struck, a bright burst of white light signified the collapse of the battlecruisers defensive measures. The hull plating of the turian ship carved a deep hole through the upper section of the engine segment. As it continued on, the ship exploded with the fury of a nuclear weapon, causing the asari ship to completely shut off, and explode as well, though with less power, and the hull still recognisable. One of the wings from the turian cruiser was catapulted forth from the main body. As it flew through space, it made contact with one of the Asari cruisers, and the fuel tanks exploded brightly, causing the cruiser to be severely damaged, having had its kinetic barriers already defeated thanks to a salvo from the _Invincible Faith._

"_Godspeed Longsword. Dawn of Justice, the blues are retreating for now, might I suggest we head for the planet and prepare to dig in_".  
Titus did not reply, still staring at the smoking remains of the _Longsword_.

* * *

**Codex Entry: Extinct Races**  
The protheans where a race of insectoid people, primarily from the now Archian planet of Alterra. Possessing a unique psionic aptitude, and a mastery of element zero unparalleled they are often romanticised by the races of the former Citadel Council, as being the first race to discover the mass effect. They existed roughly 50,000 years ago, and no-one knows why they disappeared. There are many theories, some suggest a wave of supernovae and star formation wiped their worlds clean, others say an AI uprising, others even suggest extra-galactic invaders from beyond the milky way galaxy. However their influence on the galaxy is clear, and one race, the Hanar, worship the protheans as gods, calling them Enkindlers.

Progenitors are a rare species. Native to only certain parts of the milky way, and the Archian Federations best kept secret, not much is known about the Progenitors, except that they where completely obliterated by an unknown race. This third race is completely unknown and are called the 'Destroyers', however many people in the Federation still deny the 'Destroyers' existence.

The final extinct race are the Rachni. From their homeworld of Klendathu, the Rachni where mostly a docile species of insects until they suddenly began integrating any technology with their technology. They where first discovered by the Archia Federation by a scout flotilla in 2240, but the war started 5 years later, when the outer planet Harvest was attacked and slaughtered by them. The Citadel Council where attacked by the Rachni 1200 years ago, and the Rachni where so dangerous they had to uplift the Sanghelli from Sanghellios (who where struggling through a self-inflicted nuclear winter) to drive them to extinction. This caused later the Sanghelli Rebellions, and is the reason for the treaty of Farixen, which regulated how many dreadnoughts a race could have, ensured that orbital bombardment on 'Garden' worlds was prohibited, and banned the activation of new mass relays.


	14. Deadlock

I Just realised that like half of the ships in this are actually wrong. Well the prefix before each ship should be AWS (Stands for Archian War Ship) however some seem to have the prefix of ASW which is a completely different acronym. (Anti-Submarine Warfare)

* * *

"The director is waiting for you now Mr Haddock. Would you like a drink". He waved off the brunette and stepped through the doors into a very interestingly designed office. The main theme was that of a ship. With an almost log-like appearance. With the bookshelves and comfortable looking furniture, one could almost see it as a pirate captains cabin, however several pieces like the arms locker, the technology and the window which showed the milky way galaxy in the background. The entire office was slowly rotating with the galaxy shifting left to right, and the beginnings of Arcturus, their local star peeking out into the window. The red supergiant blazed in the background, as a fairly tall and skinny shape turned around to acknowledge Hiccup.

"Amazing isn't it, a furnace trillions of times hotter than dragon fire, but even something of it's size dies eventually, and Arcturus is on the cusp of it". He wore heavy black gauntlets with spikes on the shoulder pads, and a decorative embroidered suit. At his waist was a rifle, and in the corner, a skrill dozed by a proper log fire. "Director Viggo Grimborn, the leader of the Archipelagan Confederacy of Independent Planets, Archian Federation for short". He shook the directors hand.

"Can you please explain to me what's going on Director Grimborn". The man gestured to a seat on the other side of his desk. "Please have a seat, and I will answer any questions to the best of my ability". He nodded and sat. The chair was comfortable and fitted the aesthetics of the room, behind him, Toothless crooned. "Your dragon can join Electra over there, she would be happy to have another strike class friend". He nodded, "Go play with Electra bud". The black dragon bounded over, waking the blue dragon, which jumped up when she noticed Toothless. Both began crooning and greeting each other with deep thrums and began bounding around, headed for the doors, where they would likely go cause havoc across the station.

"Remarkable creatures aren't they. As loyal as any hound, but intelligent and smart". He nodded, "So I can ask any question?".

"Of course". He took a deep breath.

"First of all, where the hell is New Berk?". Viggo leant back, "New Berk is on the planet of earth, the main planet of the Federation. You are currently on Arcturus Station".

"What happened to the dragon hunters? Have we finally learnt to coexist?".

"They have formed their own people, the Outer Planetary Alliance composed of terrorists and people who deny the truth. We accept some people don't like dragons, but we will not tolerate purposeful attacks".

"How is this place even possible?".

"Put simply we make our ships lighter and lighter until it we can move forward faster than anything you can ever achieve".

"What the hell are those shield things?".

"A clever combination of physics and engineering which makes barriers form in front of you".

"What about the... Not-dragon or human things. The turians and asari?".

"Aliens from other planets. They grew up separated from us completely, and the asari attack us because they want to rule the galaxy". Okay it seemed like this Viggo guy was quite honest with his answers, now to ask the more important questions.

"Why aren't there any Night or Light furies?".

"They take an extremely long time to lay eggs and develop, and we try to keep them hidden as much as possible to keep them safe". It made sense in principle, to isolate them and ensure they didn't die off. He only had one more question he cared about.

"Where are my friends?". He tilted his head, reminding Hiccup of how dragons showed curiosity, apparently it hadn't just been human behaviours affecting dragons.

"Friends?".

"One of the people I talked to said apparently you might know where I can find my friends. Astrid Hofferson, Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorsten, Snotlout Jorgensen and Fishlegs Ingerman". He seemed to consider the question for a while. "Before we continue I must warn you, that trying to find them before the war with the asari over will be impossible. However we don't intend to have a years long conflict".

"Many years after we where reintroduced to the dragons we where attacked by an insectoid race called the Rachni, we tried peace, but we where forced to drive them extinct, with the help of dragons. However the problem started after the wars, only about 8 years ago".

**[play track labelled as '6']**  
**Flashback (Italics are where Viggo is narrating)**  
"_After we buried the nukes, the leaders of the 230 colonies swore there would never again be war of that scale. Peace would reign, in the lifetimes of us and our children_".  
Above a large city, multiple ships suddenly dropped from warp. They where cylindrical, built as massive centrifuge drums, and began releasing missiles immediately, the guided rockets lanced from the ships and began striking civilian and military vessels alike.

"_We could not have predicted the OPA rebellion 1 year later, the worst conflict in Archian history, millions killed_".

Across Archian space, in a station similar to Arcturus but much smaller hosted a congress of 230 men and women.

"_We where at a deadlock, no foothold gained, that wasn't lost again within weeks_".

Behind the lead speaker, a massive screen lifted. It revealed a colossal ship. With two massive flight pods down the port and starboard sides. An alligator-type hull configuration on the head, leading to a slightly lower and narrower mid-section which connected to six massive drive units. PDCs bristled the entire ship with 16 main gun batteries on the dorsal and ventral hull, a pair of fixed forward railguns and several torpedo tubes on the dorsal side.

"_The Jupiter project was supposed to be our ace in the hole. 230 of the largest most powerful battlecruisers ever built. Each of the colonies was promised one, in return for signing the Archipelago Unification Treaty_".

Around a massive red planet, a large set of orbital shipyards plays host to one of the mighty ships. It's Epstein drives already lighting up to generate the enormous thrust required for such a vessel. Across its many decks crewmen ran across the corridors, firing up the railguns and PDC grids in preparation for battle.

"_The first, Galactica was Terra Nova's pride and glory_".

Across one of the now retracted flight pods read 'Galactica' and as she left the Mars fleet shipyards, she disappeared into the dimension of hyperspace.

"_She went missing, two weeks after deployment_".

In the bay across, the final few PDCs where being welded onto another vessel of identical build. This one was painted a stark white colour with black overtones, and several of the larger gun batteries where missing from her top.

"_Athena, the thirtieth ship to be completed belonged to Picon, and was supposed to track down Galactica, we where days away from her commissioning when we heard the news_".

Hundreds of light years away. Through countless dark passages of empty space, a huge fleet of cylindrical ships burned straight towards the planet. Without pausing thousands of tiny metal cylinders dropped from their flanks. They lit up in the dark void, and pushed themselves onward.

In orbit around the planet, dozens of ODPs opened fire, blue streaks taking down countless missiles as they continued past, but with thousands of missiles, and only dozens of railguns, they where doomed then and there. And countless bright flashes lit up the planet. Eviscerating buildings, ships and people alike.

"_Picon's capital cities where devastated by OPA assault fleets. Among them our own fleet headquarters. There was no chance to intervene_".

But behind those ships, dozens more escaped from the rigours of FTL and began firing immediately on the OPA ships. Their railguns marking the void with thousands of little blue trails, and their PDCs littering the skies with metal shards

"_With Admiral Sarkis killed, and Praetor Kongur still missing on Galactica, it was up to Admiral Hackett to command the fleet_".

The railguns tore through the cylindrical ships, leaving many crippled before the OPA had a chance to intervene. Among them was the Battlecruiser _Athena_, her forward guns perforating the flimsy OPA ships, as they desperately launched fighters and missiles in an attempt to escape.

"_Admiral Hackett ordered Athena to accompany the 103rd recon fleet to Picon, to gain revenge, and our only window to find Galactica was lost_".

**Present**

"The _Galactica_ sent a distress signal shortly before she went completely missing. Reporting she had found some blocks of solid helium encasing... humans. Two women and three men. 4 With blonde hair and 1 with black. All looked dressed in Viking apparel". He began to put the pieces together. "So the_ Galactica_ sent a distress call reporting these blocks, and then disappeared". Viggo nodded, "We sent a pair of exploration cruisers there after the war, but the trail had gone dead, and we couldn't find anything. Except for... something. An odd psionic signal none of our psionic troops could interpret".  
He picked up a page. "We didn't know what to think of it, so-".

"What do you mean? It looks fine". Viggo's eyebrows shot up, and Hiccup pointed at the page. "I can read it fine".

"Really? What do you mean you can read it fine?".

The pages wasn't at all illegible, pretty simple really, a set of norse letters which spelt out Anabasis.

"Anabasis you say? I'll feed it into the database and see what it means. For now I have a proposal to you Mr Haddock". He leant back on the desk. "Until we defeat the Asari, we can't risk sending out our ships on scientific or exploratory missions, I learnt that the hard way with the_ Enterprize_, she still hasn't replied and neither has the reported Turian fleet Arterius said he dispatched".

He slid forward a pad, on it was a ship unlike any other he had seen before. The main hull was long and angular, with sweeping curves and hexagonal panels covering it. Below was a large hangar bay with space for a fighter and a couple of ground vehicles maybe. Two swept down wings on either side of her hull played host to a set of four thrusters which more resembled the flatter Turian thrusters. She had a pair of lethal looking guns above her wings and several ports hosting hidden 40 millimetre PDCs covered the craft, while a pair of torpedo tubes where positioned at the bow and on the ventral hull.

"The _AWS Normandy_, it says here Stealth Destroyer?".

Viggo nodded, "If you accept an offer to join the Archian Fury Corps under my command. I will give you command of the Normandy. Well eventually, for now you'll be under the command of Admiral David Anderson. He's a good man, and he'll help you on your quest for your friends once the war is over".

The offer was tempting, there was that. He had been in command of berk before, but being thousands of years in the future had made that history obviously. However the low number of people onboard the Normandy would be a problem for an army.

"What do you mean join the Fury Corps. Would a ship like this even be useful". Viggo nodded, "Incredibly so, though it would be tough. On ships of this size, the crew is more like a family, and there would be tremendous pressure on our first stealth ship".

"This is a prototype?".

"Exactly, I have a top secret mission I need you to carry out before we can win this war. It's completely vital to the war effort. Then you can find _Galactica_".  
He took a deep breath. Hiccup had to decide for himself, and in this case it was incredibly important. "Alright. I'm in".  
Viggo clapped his hands together. "Excellent, I'll inform Anderson immediately. For now I'll get you some money while you're in Archian space and some basic belongings. Welcome to the Federation, Lieutenant Haddock". He held a single hand out, Hiccup shook it. "Thank you director".

**AWS _Deathbringer_, Donnager class Flagship**  
"Jack do we have any word on the asari technology?".

"_It's basically the same as the Turian ships, just a slightly different design_". Avescerala collapsed into her chair, sighing at the logistical challenges which would come with practically rebuilding half the colony. It would be expensive, but whether or not they would try to negotiate with the Asari wasn't up to her.

"Is there any weaknesses in their systems? Anything at all?".

"_There is one, but you're not gonna like it_".

"Can't be worse than, '_Drop out of hyperspace, send out a stolen asari shuttle filled with, 'crap loads of fusion bombs', then fit it to their flagship, and play 'Yippie Kay Aye Motherfucker' when we detonate it_".

"_Well I noticed their CIWS systems where much better at interception this time round compared to the attack_".

She thought back to the battle, now that she thought about it their torpedoes had been much less effective. Wasn't really a problem since factoring in thousands torpedoes to the equation would have driven even the best PDC grid computers to insanity. But something had changed in that last battle.

"Okay, and what does that mean?".

"_I ain't a programmer, but I'd say they networked their computers together last battle. Their computers are usually very, very isolated. You're dealing with a race which really does not want 'the Matrix' to happen_".

"I'm lost, how does this help us?".

"_What if I said Admiral Heift thinks her programmers could ruthlessly break through their firewalls like a Nadder through a chicken coop_".

"We can shut down their fleet?".

"_Not their entire fleet, but weapons systems, fire control, sensors and targeting particularly_". She began to smile, "And without weapons, they can't fight back, and we can slaughter them where they stand".

"I'll contact Heift". The signal cut, and she turned to her cyberwarfare expert, "How fast can you hack a firewall".

"Depends on how much computing power you can give me". She considered it, "I can reroute missile guidance, railgun targeting and logistics".  
He leant back, thinking. "I can probably break through their firewalls in seconds if you give me a high speed core and network the PDC computers throughout the fleet". Avescerala stopped dead, "Network the PDCs?, it'll leave us vulnerable to torpedo attack".

"And allow us to completely disable them". She sighed and turned to the operator, "You better be fucking right about this. And I want the PDC computers ready to disconnect at a moment's notice".

He nodded and turned back to the computer. "Admiral Heift, is that you?".

"_Avescerala? How have you been girl, haven't seen you since Arcturus_". She chuckled, "Could be better, listen I need a favour".

"_What's the matter Chrisjen_".

"I need the best programmers you have, we're trying to disable the Asari fleet".

"_That's going to be difficult, I can spare one of my EWA ships. Captain Kaiden Alenko, expert at cyberwarfare_".

"Thanks for that Admiral Heift, I'll prep a position in my frigates".

"_You better, I want my ship back. And we need to meet up some time_". Avescerala smiled, "I'm due for some shore leave in a month or so, fancy heading down to Arcadia?".

"_Copy that admiral, I've rerouted the AWS Scipio Africanus to your fleet group, ETA 2 hours". _The signal cut off, "Lieutenant I have the Scipio Africanus and it's computer core for you, will that help".

"Should be, I can hack straight through their firewalls, then chuck an assload of wyrms at their defences to keep them down". Avescerala blinked, "I'm going to be honest I couldn't even follow that based on context. Just do your job Lieutenant".

**Thessia, Asari Space**  
Asari Matron Kerri Tevos was at present, very annoyed. As she entered her office, glowing in psionic rage and about twelve seconds from wiping Matriarch Benezia from the face of the planet. Sometimes she honestly wanted to throttle the elder asari. Despite the very clear declaration of war from this new race, (The humans? or dragons? or was it Archian's?) Massive bursts of psionic energy (The energy channelled from the shroud which was harnessed, both by psionically gifted individuals and by element zero) had been picked up, seeming to suggest a whole species which could control that kind of thing. "The goddess damned idiot should be executed".

"_If we have our way, we may be able to carry out your wish, Matron Tevos_". She snapped round at the intrusion, body lighting up with energy and a pistol in her hand. On the wall, the vid-screen had lit up to reveal the human from before. Viggo or something. He was similarly dressed, but lacking his dragon friend. "What do you want?".

"_The same thing as you, peace_", he said, looking disapprovingly at her still glowing body. "_Would it be possible for you to not be charged up like a Skrill in a lightning storm_". She lowered her psionics, but kept a hand on her gun.

"You want peace? How am I supposed to help you with that, human?!". She spat the world, appalled that these primitives had killed good asari just following orders, even if they had been stupid orders. But she saw the weapons they used. The hollow point rounds, the phosphorus shells, the IEDs.

"_Simple. In 24 hours we will be launching a collective assault on asari space. During this assault, we will attempt to disable not destroy any enemy vessels, and if possible drive the empire to the peace table. No more bloodshed, no more war_".

He took a deep breath. "_I have sent out contacts to the Resistance on all Asari planets to begin a collective attempt to drive you to the peace table. I need someone who can take control in the event that Matriarch Benezia is not capable of allowing this. Someone who can represent them at the peace table. You have a lot of influence correct Councillor_".

She flinched, so he knew of the Citadel Council. It was over now, not like it would be returning anytime soon. "So you can hack a database? You realise what the sentence is for collusion with an enemy in a time of war".

"_Execution I know. But you don't have to do anything, except be ready. Fairwell Matron_".

The image shook, before disappearing. And she dropped her gun. The humans clearly new a lot more than she expected, maybe she ought to actually listen to them. "VI I need you to set up a meeting with someone in high security prison".

"**Of course, Miss Tevos**".

"Former councillor Tiberitus Sparatus, also alert Dalatrass Valern I require a meeting with him soon".

"**Of course, I will alert them now. Anything else?**".

"A cup of tea please".

* * *

**Codex Entry: Former Citadel Council**  
Formed in the human year of 456 BC, the Citadel Council led the races of the galaxy for almost 2500 years before Matriarch Benezia caused its breakup. it's most recent model saw the three most populus and important races as the three main races. The asari acted as mediators and negotiators, the turians as the military might, and the salarians taking control of general intelligence. Origonally a fourth race, the Quarians where a part of this, and took care of research and development, however after the Geth crisis (1895 AD human time) the quarian embassy was revoked and the quarians where kicked out of the citadel and denounced.

The three main races led five younger races. In order of their joining this included the Korvax (A race of ammonia-based lifeforms responsible for the creation of the credit), the Klingon (A despotic race of slavers), the Hanar, the Elcor and the Vy'keen (A race of lizards rescued from their dying homeworld by the Hanar). The Sanghelli where also once a member race of the Citadel Council, especially during the Rachni wars, when the insectoid race threatened extinction on a level not seen before.

The salarians uplifted the Sanghelli from their homeworld to fight the Rachni, but after the wars, some tense negotiations resulted in the Sanghelli Rebellions where they attacked the Citadel Council. After the 20 year war, the Salarians developed the genophage which was then deployed by the turians. The genophage reduced the Sanghelli birthrate to the point where 1 in 1000 babies survives conception, and even after then. With Sanghellios' brutal climate, it is unlikely they will survive for much longer as the clans have returned to their petty arguments.

When Matriarch Benezia came into power, she demanded more and more power be relinquished to the Asari, and began violating the Treaty of Farixen resulting in it's eventual re-evaluation, before she launched a surprise attack on the Salarians and the Elcor. After their surrender, the fleets began pushing on Turian space, and war was declared. Many wish for the status quo to be returned once the warmonger Benezia has been dealt with.


	15. Cascade

"_The humans redefined the definition of 'cyberwarfare'. We always thought that the geth where good at hacking since they're AI, how the humans managed to create non-sentient swarms of computer programs which can shred complicated anti-virus software is beyond anyone aside from us, and completely redesigning our own cyberwarfare suites was one of the first things we did after First Contact_". Admiral Daro'Xen vas _Moreh_, Quarian Migrant Fleet Admiralty Board meeting shortly after the first contact war.

* * *

Hiccup slid the brand new plasma sword back into it's sheath, marvelling at how lightweight it was. After a short evaluation from Admiral Hackett on his skills he had been drafted into the Fury Corps and been assigned to the _AWS Normandy_. En route he had met with several others who would be joining him on the ship, in preparation for this secret operation Viggo wanted carrying out, then on the hunt for _Galactica_.

First was Scott Axhull. He had joined the navy fairly recently, and was the Second Officer for the _Normandy_, in charge of patrols and crew assignments. He also managed the logistics and stocking orders for the destroyer, while ensuring that the ship's Quartermaster had the equipment she needed. He was an intelligent and resilient man, if somewhat eccentric. Then was Serenity Osberg, being a stealth destroyer with a fairly large onboard marine complement, naval regulations had her onboard as a psychologist, and she also worked with Doctor Lyla Landvik, the assigned medic for the team. Serenity was much calmer than the chief medical officer of the destroyer, while Lyla was a very fierce medic. She had originally been stationed on the _AWS Sheffield_ but had been moved to the _Normandy_ when the last medic resigned.

In charge of the onboard marine complement for the Normandy was Kolgrim Moller, a red haired and protective psionic commander. He was the one member of the crew who Hiccup didn't know much about, and he and his Snaptrapper Mistjaw where incredibly close, thanks to his Psionic aptitude. From what little interactions he had with Kolgrim he could tell that the normally calm man could be extremely protective over Mistjaw, and one of his arms was clustered with what looked like burnmarks.

Finally, was the captain of the ship, Rear Admiral David Anderson. The coloured human was quite short, and resembled Hiccup in build, but preferred a military uniform. Apparently he had been formerly in the Fury Corps, but his dragon had moved to a job as the representative for the dragons in the Archian Congress, and now he acted as a captain and admiral for the federation. The man was fiercely loyal to Archia, and Hiccup betted would stop at nothing to fight for peace. He lacked a dragon, but was apparently a mean sharpshooter earlier on in his life, and he had both a tactical mind able to plan flawless operations and a political mind that allowed him to tell when he was being bullshitted. As of now, the captain had called Hiccup, Kolgrim and their cyberwarfare specialist, lieutenant Felix Gaeta to the briefing room onboard the _Normandy_.

Gaeta was a shy and quiet man, but apparently had a husband who had been stationed on _Pegasus_, another missing ship. The_ Pegasus_ was a battlecruiser escort which had searched for _Galactica_ after the OPA rebellions and Operation: Mosquito Net, but it had never returned. He offered a quick nod to the technological Guru, who smiled back and saluted. He, like Hiccup, was also missing a leg, having been shot at close range, and gaining a dangerous infection in his right leg.

"Ahh good, you're all here", he heard Anderson say. The briefing room of the Normandy was a large space in the center of ship. While its main feature was a large holotable in front of him, it had several chair suspended around, and a set of screens and communications terminals. On the holotable was a planet. About half the size of the earth by the looks, and comprised of rock and dust. Completely uninhabitable. "While Admiral Avescerala deals with the Asari near Freezing-to-Death, we need to pave the way for admiral Heift".

Moller raised his hand, "Sir what is Admiral Heift doing so deep in asari space?". He brought up a hologram of her flagship, the _AWS Spirit of Fire_. "The SOF is leading a few dozen destroyers and corvettes on hit and run missions. We're trying to drain their supplies, mainly of eezo, and can you guess where their largest refinery is?". Moller withdrew his hand, "Thessia?".

Anderson nodded, "The entire planet is littered with eezo, about as common as oil, and its why the Asari have so many psionics. But they use five primary facilities on the surface to enrich and purify the element zero". Hiccup wondered what they had to do with it. Surely Admiral Heift couldn't actually go near the planet as-

"We can't hit the planet, it has dozens of Magnetic accelerator batteries, GUARDIAN platforms and disruptor torpedo banks, so we're hitting their freighters instead", _nevermind, apparently my commanding officer can read minds_.

"So what are we doing then?" asked Gaeta. Anderson zoomed into the planet below, focusing on a single point. "This is Gek, the seventh planet from their sun. It's mostly uninhabitable, small He-3 deposits. However".

He pointed to a blinking signature in orbit. "Its the closest planet to the mass relay, and if Heift enters now, it'll take about seven to nine minutes before she's slaughtered".  
"Hang on I thought our FTL didn't need the mass relays?". Anderson nodded, "That's true it doesn't but they can detect our FTL far easier, so the plan is to time the arrival of the fleet with an asari civilian liner which is headed to Thessia, so we eclipse each other's signature. That's why this planet is such a large problem".

On the surface, said 'problem' revealed itself to be an absolutely colossal cannon, which dwarfed everything around it. 3 kilometres long, and possessing a multitude of cooling panels and cables. "A coilgun, built specifically for planetary defence".

Hiccup could see where this was going. "So, we're destroying it?".

"No, we're capturing it". Moller, who was currently in the midst of sip of tea, began spluttering and coughing. "We're taking a state of the art orbital weapon alone? Odin above we'd need a squad of Shieldmaidens just to break through their defences".

"That's where the turians come in". He retrieved a small disk from his pocket. "They designed it and sold the schematics to the asari, and now we have an exact systems blueprint. Haddock you and a squad of marines will secure the engineering bay and upload the virus into the panel, while Leuitenant Gaeta and Moller take the control room. Gaeta once the firewalls are down you have 4 shots maximum. Try to take down any anti-piracy skiffs the Asari have". He nodded, slipping the disk into his pocket, while

Hiccup looked at the holo-diagram.

"We just need to get into the facility now". Hiccup stepped round the hologram, and noted any points of entrance. "There, that exit gate", he said, pointing to a large opening in the fence which led to the building. "What is that?".

"That's the nuclear plant, you think a gun of this size runs on duracel, hel no this thing needs a nuclear plant operating constantly for minutes to charge up a shot".

"What's the gap for though?".

"Transportation of the fuel I expect. Deuterium and Helium-3 likely". He outlined the entrance. "Small passageway, single checkpoint with a pair of guards. Can't be too difficult to get through".

Anderson brought up another view. "That's what we thought till we saw this. Massive minefield, completely undetectable and impossible to get through without a minesweeper, which is easily detectable".

"Why not use the Whispering Deaths?". The entire group opened their mouths, as though to argue, but then shut up when realising what he said. "Use adolescent Whispering Deaths with EMP packs to disable the mines in the path".

"How didn't we think of that?", mumbled Anderson. "Okay, new plan. We use a Whispering Death outfitted with an EMP to disable the mines and sneak the squad into the facility". He then zoomed back out. "After that the plan continues as normal. Any questions?". No-one had any, as they all looked to each other. "Right, I'll talk to Ryker about borrowing one of his WDs, Hiccup you can head down to fabrication and grab an EMP generator". He nodded, "You all have your assignments, lets move out. Rendezvous back at the Normandy in three hours".

* * *

**Admiral Chrisjen Avescerala, AWS Deathbringer**  
"All personnel, man your battlestations. Set condition one throughout the ship". Avescerala woke with a start, as the announcement echoed out. "CO to the bridge, CO to the bridge". Right, the counterstrike, by now the edits to the computer cores should have finished, and she could prepare to take out the reserve fleet she almost predicted would be there. No self-respecting Admiral would take all their ships into battle, they would leave some in reserve to allow a fighting retreat if necessary and to back up lines which failed or struggled. It would be akin to throwing every grenade you had at the enemy before the battle even started. In other words, a moronic choice.

As she stumbled up, she cursed the fact she had fallen asleep at her desk, as the paper files where scattered across her quarters. As she grabbed the comm unit, she peered out of the window. Surely enough, in the distance was the _AWS Scipio Africanus_. The ship looked odd, covered in protrusions and antennae. It hosted very little in the way of weapons, just a set of 8 40 millimetre cannons and a single torpedo tube. But it was another recently designed class, the Pyxis class Electronic Warfare Cruiser. Only twelve of her class where ever built, and 3 where destroyed during Operation: Mosquito Net. 6 where in various fleets acting as communications and cyberwarfare hubs, while 1 was given to admiral Heift to augment her fleet's Torpedo locking capabilities, as the _Leonidas_ class lacked the advanced torpedo targeting algorithms of her larger brothers.  
"I'll be up in a second jack, have the _Scipio Africanus_ move behind the _Invincible Faith_, I'd rather not have them exposed until we actually crack their firewalls".

"Yes ma'am, I mean sir. Yes sir".

She shut off the communicator, straightened her uniform, before heading out towards the bridge. Passing through dimly lit corridors which glowed crimson, taking on the appearance that battle-mode lighting did. In truth the ship changed it's lights to red as a way to disorient and camouflage their soldiers. It was a trick used to hide terrible terrors and night terrors better than the blue and white lighting which dominated the OPA ships and spacesuits. It could help someone distinguish between a friend or foe. As she went through wider bulkheads, she passed several marines who where stood guard near the important points of entry. All had their dragons stood proudly by their side, and in the vents she could hear the occasional scuffle as Terrors (Night and Terrible) constantly patrolled, not only keeping pests in control, but watching everywhere and keeping an eye out.

As the bridge doors opened, the crew tensed and saluted. "Admiral on deck, Atten...SHUN". She saluted, "At ease XO, you are relieved". Jack Harper, her XO nodded, saluted then took a set to the right of the helm controls. "Sir I have a single contact on my scope, closing at hyper-light speeds releasing tons of Tachyons, estimated at 30 or so LPD".

Tachyons where hyper-lightspeed particles with a negative mass. They where actually tiny atoms of element zero which where released similarly to Hawking radiation, and you could use their energy level and the negative wavelength coefficient to work out their velocity above c. LPD was a term used to describe speed, in Lightyears Per Day. As a general benchmark, civilian ships could hit 40 or so LPD, while military standards where up to 80, the newest ships could retrofit their drives for up to 200 and she had seen the schematics for the Normandy class which said it could manage 250 and not even break a sweat. Probably a fair amount higher if they could augment her drive with some of that eezo the Turians love so much.

"Sir I have Arterius on the line, he says that the contact looks Asari. Likely another stolen Salarian stealth frigate". She leant forward, both hands on the bars, "When they drop out of warp put a 12 ton slug through em".

"Sir?".

"They didn't show no mercy, neither shall we". The crewman nodded, and altered the elevation of the dorsal railgun. Through the viewports, she could see the gargantuan railgun pivot with remarkable agility, before firing ahead of time, and leaving a blue aura around the gun. "Impact in three, two, one". The little red disk on the screen disappeared, as the railgun round completely perforated the tiny ship, and left it a steadily expanding cloud of debris. Harper laughed, "Well, we know you where right then Chrisjen. Looks like I owe Hadley 10 credits". Chrisjen fixed him with a glare for well known reasons. "I mean.. Uhh no he doesn't no gambling going on in this ship sir", he stuttered out nervously.

"Prep us for relay entrance, you say our FTL drives are compatible?". Behind her, a young female turian with deep white tribal tattoos nodded. "The mass relay uses the drive core as a conduit. It injects eezo into the electricity, and creates a field, as long as the drive core is large enough and is connected to enough of the ship then it can work. I hope".

As the ship surged on, she turned back around and once again fixed her with a glare. She seemed to be doing that an awful lot lately. "You hope?".

"Well yeah, It's been attempted". Avescerala raised her eyebrows.

"Once". Raised even more, and she crossed her arms.

"In a lab. And the ship exploded a minute later. But I'm sure you'll be fine, after all this ship is a lot bigger with twice the radiator cooling". She gave a smile which could only be described as _'I'm basically guessing my physics here since I'm not a fucking expert on technology I have never actually seen before_.'

"If I die from this, I'm killing you all". The ship was now very near, and sparks of lightning similar to a skrill began to paint the bow of the ship, leaving a mysterious blue aura which dissipated almost instantly. "Power levels spiking, eezo is lowering our mass". By now, other ships had neared the relay, and where doing the same, with the mass relay's rings rotating faster and faster than ever before. "Speed of light has been raised to 35c, estimated time till final jump is 3 seconds".

To the observers on Freezing-to-Death, the _Deathbringer_, _Scipio Africanus_ and numerous more ships disappeared from view after being painted by the beams of the relay for a few seconds. Leaving faint and easily visible trails in the space surrounding the colony as they where accelerated to thousands of times the speed of light, as was the case with relay travel. Not even the best Archian hyperdrives could compare to Prothean technology.

The journey took moments. Compared to the rigours of hyperspace, the travel through the mass relay was pretty similar, the only exception was the lack of active scans occurring, and the fact that the journey which would normally take the better part of a week to undergo, was completed in 12 seconds. As it approached the exit, the ship jerked sharply, as the inertial dampeners struggled with keeping the ship held together going at such velocity, however they held fine, supported by the other relay which connected to them. As they exited, Avescerala was proved correct in her assumptions, when alarms started blaring immediately. "800 plus contacts at 200 Mega-meters. (**1 Megameter is equivalent to 1000 kilometres, 200 is two thirds of the distance to the moon**)

**Asari Cinder class Dreadnought, _AES Nuclear Wind_**  
"Woah, massive power surge from the relay admiral".

"Detecting definite signs something is coming through the relay".

"Contact in 8.6 seconds!".

Admiral Talona Veil snapped upright when the commands came in. As the captian of the _Nuclear Wind_ she was ordered to hold position next to relay 314 and await further orders from Admiral Lidanya. If she decided to ever check in, since so far she had heard nothing from the turians. Or Archians for that matter. And that was what worried her the most, not the enemy existence or their possible technology level. But how little of a reaction. It had taken 2 days for them to subdue the surface, and in that time... what? A lone heavy corvette escaping from the planet, a strike on the frigate in the atmosphere, and... an ambush.

So needless to say she was up in an instant when the sensors blared red. "500 contacts, reading 422 unknown IFFs and the rest are turian contacts". She advanced on the viewscreen, where the other ships in the formation began pulling forward to intercept the Archian fleet. Goddess those ships are huge.

"Network the PDC grids and prepare to engage, load all disruptor torpedo tubes". She gained a slight smile at the new advice given by the defending fleet. Since the Archians had such accurate and intelligent Torpedoes, new programs networking the entire fleet's computers together where in place. It would give them a far greater range of computing power, meaning that the sheer number wouldn't crash the defence matrixes. "Enemy is closing. 40 light seconds away. No torpedoes fired yet".

No torpedoes? That was odd, from what she had heard of their tactics from both battles, the humans usually fired their missiles off early then switched to those cannons and railguns. But why weren't they here? Something was definitely off.

"Huh that's odd". She looked over to where a lieutenant, a maiden by the looks of her tattoos and low rank. "Sensors picked up an odd contact". Another appeared on the screen, this one of a similar size. "Wait, there's another one".

_"This is the Ath- CHZZZZZ_". The communication from one of her battleships suddenly cut off, and without warning the entire deck flashed bright red. "They're hacking us! All power to, Oh goddess help us they've taken over everything".

"Shut the network down. SHUT IT DOWN!", she screamed, desperate to save her fleet. "It's... It's too late, they disabled fire control and the communications units. And, all ships are losing control. We're dead in the water". She marched down to the cyberwarfare station, where another maiden was frantically pressing keys. "They've taken everything, all data. And they have breeders in the servers. Whenever we try to quarantine the infected code, it just infects the software".

Suddenly the communications units crackled. "_Greetings Asari fleet, my name is Chrisjen Avescerala, Admiral of the Archian Navy. Your friend Lidanya is already onboard a secure transport headed to a military prison on an unknown planet, and the primary fleet lies in ruins, while you sit here with your guns overheated_".

She had to admit, the voice was terrifying, and the image which had appeared on every single omnitool and vidscreen in the fleet was that of a human. She was dressed in a formal outfit, and her scowl, as well as they way she held herself gave no illusion to Talona that she wouldn't hesitate to put them down.

"_Now, I'm going to release your communications, and you're going to tell me whether or not you surrender, and if you don't, I will ram a 10 ton tungsten slug up your ass, then repeat the process until you surrender, or you run out of ships_".

As if to prove this, the communications units miraculously reactivated, and she reached for the microphone with a heavy heart. But before she could say anything, the _Athame's Warbird_, the same battleship which had been ground zero for the hacking attack obviously did not agree with this, and Talona facepalmed when she realised who commanded the ship.

"_This is Lia Vasir of the Athame's Warbird, we will never give in to yo-_". As if to prove a point (actually it was exactly that), two orange beams lanced from the distance, intersecting with the Warbird. Her kinetic barriers held for 7 seconds, before the beams cut straight into her hull. They continued to cause the metal to actually vaporise from the intense heat, exploding is it did so, and soon leaving the ship a hot, burning hell with a leaky drive core spewing out radiation.  
She recoiled in horror when one of the beams slice through one of the _Nuclear Wind_'s GUARDIAN lasers. "_AES Nuclear Wind, you know our capabilities now, and you know what we will do if you do not comply. Don't make your ship's namesake become a reality, acute radiation poisoning is not a nice way to go_".

She frantically grabbed the microphone before someone else made a stupid decision. "All ships lay down your arms and surrender, I'm not sacrificing your lives for nought. Admiral Avescerala, my ships will surrender now. Just don't torture or injure any of them. Or would you rather fight to the death".  
"_Your men- ahem women will not be harmed. The Geneva conventions prohibit the torture or mistreatment of prisoners and you will likely be allowed to return home once the war is complete_".

With the size of the ships she was facing, and their evident technological superiority as hundreds of transport craft and dragons dropped out of their fleet, she didn't doubt who would come out on top. She just prayed that her wife and daughters where safe, and that these humans wouldn't do what that Lidanya did. Oh she is so fucking dead if I get my hands on her. She brought war to a species which can disable a fleet in moments, and now innocent asari will pay the price.

How many, she didn't know.

* * *

"_I Think computer viruses should count as life... I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We've created life in our own image_", Professor Steven Hawking

**Intense right? I know, I wanted to clearly state just how much the asari have screwed up here. You have to remember these are a race which has been spacefaring for three thousand years. They're cocky, arrogant, and a couple of bad politicians resulted in them dragging down the status quo of the Citadel Council.**

**O****ther than that, the story is still barely started, and if you think just the first contact war will be displayed? Oh no there is waaaay more. More than Galactica anyway.**

**I intend to completely make any sci-fi fanboys (Or girls) who despise crossovers run back to the starship they came from. This is my story and I will include whatever stupidly small or ridiculously large concepts, races or starships I want.**

**And no, for all you mass effect fans, the reapers are not even remotely part of the story. So don't get your hopes up. While yes a major part of the plot includes the Protheans and the races, you have to remember there are Halo, No Mans Sky and other races in this. **

**Anyway. If you want you can review, it's up to you. If you do, constructive criticism is fine, but I will simply ignore any flamers, any toxic fans and anyone who is just being an idiot. But if you want to suggest names for ships, characters, OCs and possible future references then chuck them in the comments.**

**Also I'm having a poll on how the Archians go about the war on the asari. PM me your option if you want to have a say, after all they are a democracy.**

**A) We will play as defensively as possible, avoiding all civilian kills if possible**

**B) Attack them, take several colonies as bargaining chips, once again avoid civilian deaths**

**C) Full scale attack, we will keep firing until they come to us with a peace deal.**

**D) WIPE THEM OUT, ALL OF THEM UNTIL THEY BEG FOR MERCY!**

**PM me the letter you vote for, I will not be taking those who review into account. Also try to explain why, and any political motivations the Federation may have for this action**


	16. 200 Roentgens

**Guess who returns, that's right, its captain Picard. Don't worry you trekkie fans. I will admit that I have never seen any star trek movies, I know how the starships work. And yes I took the Klingon from star trek because their tactics fit the narrative of what I have plans.**

_And because the batarians are ugly fuckers_

**Jamie watch your fucking language. And yes, I didn't feel like the Batarians fitted into the narrative of the story. It's the same reason why I have two different precursor races. The Protheans (for the mass effect themed races), the Progenitors (the secretest secret) ****You'll also see that the Rachni came from the planet of Klendathu. Yes that's right all those unnamed fans who watched Starship Troopers, if you want I can have some good old 'humanity splatters some spacebugs scenes' if you really want. At the end of the story I will put a full list of all the Sci fis, musics and ships I have used.**

_You might want to mention the writers you used because you couldn't be bother- ahem, wanted to make the universe feel recognisable_

**Also thanks again to VigoGrimborn and Nightstar Fury for lending me their incredible characters and storytelling. Nightstar Furie's OCs are interesting and well thought out, while VigoGrimborns theories on Night Fury culture are complex, interesting, and make the politicians in The Expanse look like children. Except for Avasarala, she just kicks Ass wherever she goes. Because she does whatever she goddamn like, and whoever the fuck you think you are, you better get to the fucking point. (My fav character in existence, sorry Vigo and Nightstar, but she is too badass not to be)**

* * *

**_AWS Normandy_, Operation: Uppercut**  
The starship _Normandy_, slowly cruised through the space near Thessia. As it did, the ship remained silent. Despite space being almost entirely empty, detecting anything which was low in temperature was impossible, no matter how quick you could travel, and at the distances involved with star systems, the chances of passing within visual range was like trying to break a piece of titanium with a feather. Astronomical odds. At its present state, anyone scanning Thessia, would not be able to interpret there was anything there. Maybe if you looked really hard with gravitic sensors you might see slight distortion of space-time from the gravitational pull. But it would just appear to be like any other asteroid, cold and dead.

The _Normandy_ was currently freefalling towards the defence cannon they where supposed to be taking out, its engines silent. Trying to compute an FTL vector far enough away from Thessia was difficult enough, then plotting a sub-light planetary intercept from millions of kilometres, followed by a 3 day long silent cruise slowly reducing their heat signature, still trying to keep the intercept on course. In the words of Gaeta, it was like shooting a bullet at a bullet while riding a horse completely blindfolded having just woken up from a hangover. So he praised Odin above when Gaeta expertly produced a vector bringing them to a staggering 0.0045% inaccuracy, now they only had a 1 in 100 chance of failing the intercept, better than the 30% chance of failing proposed by Hackett.

As the spiralled towards the surface, Hiccup began suiting up in the hangar bay, going over the plan one last time. As he clipped his sword to his hip, and attached a secondary sidearm, he took one of the small black sticks which contained the virus. They all had one, the plan was to get in, plant it then get out. "Helm control to hangar bay, beginning gravity turn manoeuvre, prep the shuttle". Without so much as a jerk, the Normandy began accelerating, as the element-zero and NPD core spun up, creating artificial burrows in spacetime which the Normandy 'fell' into.

As the vessel neared the planet, the cargo bay attached to the underside of the ship opened up, and 2 shapes dropped out. Both where shuttles, one with an adolescent whispering death, the other carrying as many marines it could manage and a few dragons. As they dived towards the surface, they kept their engines completely offline, resembling meteorites more than anything, and when the soldiers jumped from them, they let loose several high explosives to make it appear like a standard meteorite had struck the surface. On the ground, Hiccup rose from the crater alongside Toothless, and joined Ripper, the Whispering Death accompanying them.

The entire operation consisted of 24 men, split into two teams. Team 1 would take the reactor control room, Team 2 would take the Coilgun itself and upload the virus. Doing so would involve first heading through the nuclear plant via the steam funnel which vented waste steam. The Asari used standard nitrogen-cooled, laser induction fusion reactors, similar to civilian fusion plants. Unlike the more specialised military magnetic confinement reactors. Or 'Tokomaks' as the old soviet name had become a popular name. While Team 1 disabled the waste valve, they would climb through the waste area and exit via the waste dump. Thanks to their armour, the tiny amount of radiation present (mostly neutrons) would be harmless, and stopped by their armour should it be too much.

As they gathered, Hiccup nodded to his group, team 2. "All right guys. Stealth mission, we head through the Focus arrays, then wait for Team 1 to disable the pumps. While the pumps are disabled and the neutron absorbers kick in we can head through the facility and exit out the back, before we use our dragons to hug the barrel and go through the coil itself". One of his men, a young marine named James raised his hand. "Isn't going down the barrel of a MAC a bad idea sir? I mean it is an anti-warship weapon".

Hiccup shook his head, "It won't fire without any targets, and we'll have plenty of warning beforehand".

James nodded and withdrew his hand. "You all aware of your job? Kolgrim?".

The redhead nodded, "Take team 2 and deactivate the neutron absorbers and nitrogen pumps. Wait for you to exit then hold the control room personnel hostage until the shit hits the fan".

"Gaeta?".

"Upload the virus into the central server and take control of the weapon".

"Anderson".

There was a brief pause before the admiral replied, "_We copy you Hiccup, we'll mark any asari battlecruisers for destruction by the cannon, then disable the civilian ship sensors under the ruse of a standard systemic scan_".

"Keep your wits about you and we should do fine".

"Copy that Hiccup, we're all counting on you remember that". He slid his sword back into the chief and retrieved a silenced weapon. Rather than plasma or conventional bullets, the silenced weapon was a coilgun. Virtually silent compared to eezo rifles, chemical bullets or plasma accelerators. Beside him, the grey earth shifted to reveal Ripper rising, looking somewhat less cooped up here than back on Arcturus. His handler, Vasili Khodemchuk carefully removed the EMP generator. "Mines are disabled comrade, let us proceed with the operation". He nodded to Ripper, who shook himself, before heading back underground, likely to hide till extraction.

The entire group double-timed it across the minefield and reached the plant in record time. It was a tall building. With a pair of massive red and white funnels, next to a tall, oblong shaped building connected to what he could only describe as a massive dome. The dome was partially shielded by what could be lead and something about it gave Hiccup the chills. He had been briefly taught about nuclear power, and he was thankful that fusion was the option, and not the far more dangerous fission options. "Radiation levels steady at 12 nano-roentgen", (**Pronounced ront-gen not roh-ent-jen**) announced Gaeta, who was holding a small range dosimeter.

Within moments, they mounted their dragons and rose into the air, up to the roof of the facility. As they reached it, Hiccup grabbed one of the guards, and stabbed her with the tip of his coilgun, paralysing her with concentrated flightmare venom, which would leave her incapacitated until the next shift. By then they would be long gone.

As they moved forward, they reached a set of double doors, made from metal. Kicking them in revealed a narrow, brightly lit staircase and they descended it, keeping their weapons up. Behind him Gaeta fiddled with his omnitool. "Control room should be on the 12th floor".

Hiccup reached the 12th floor and stacked up on one side. Toothless crooned slightly. "Lets do this bud". He kicked open the door and dashed in. The others followed immediately, and they quickly subdued a pair of guards on either side of the door. Another asari further away dashed forward with her weapon raised, but Toothless jumped on her and smashed her head against the floor, knocking her unconscious. The final asari attempted to dash for help, but a well aimed shot from Moller finished that plan.  
The plant personnel, a group of 5 asari dressed in stark white uniforms with white caps held their hands up, terrified at the group of humans and dragons now filling the control room. Hiccup lowered his own weapon. "Kolgrim assume the guards uniforms and hide them. Remember, disable the plant when I say". He saluted, before heading towards the plant personnel. "Gaeta, Vasili, on me lets head towards the plant".

They left the room quickly and closed the door, heading back up the staircase. As they did, Gaeta piped up, "Remind me why we couldn't just fly over the plant". Vasili, who was at present checking the time on his watch answered for him, "Because asari have ground based LIDAR systems. Will paint us before we have chance to reach gun, so we head in by ground, then use the gun itself for cover. Or missile turn us into red mist comrade".

Hiccup opened the door carefully, with Toothless beside him the entire way. As they left, he looked towards the gun itself, and what a sight to behold. It was a large cylinder which gradually got thinner at the end. The entire structure was supported by a long pillar and a set of cables, like a suspension bridge. The dark grey structure was built on a massive metal ring, and attached to a gimbal, allowing a degree of motion.

They all jumped on their dragons, or those who didn't have dragons where picked up, they quickly dashed up to the largest of the funnels and perched onto the edge. "Radiation stable at 0.02 Milli-Roentgens" said Gaeta.

Khodemchuck was the first to drop in, on the back of James' nightmare, Flameshot. "Here goes nothing, as Toothless rose into the air, Gaeta jumped on the back and they entered the steam tunnel. Toothless gave an uneasy warble, and Hiccup felt bad for the obviously uncomfortable dragon. The temperature was something like 70 degrees Celsius in the funnel. "_Moller here, we may have a slight problem_".

"Go ahead Moller".

"_The core of the powerplant is older than we thought. I'm trying to get the plant personnel to deactivate the neutron absorbers, but they're being stubborn_".  
In the background, a feminine voice, obviously belonging to one of the engineers sounded out, "_We've shielded the core so much that radiation levels are fine outside, the waste tunnel needs to be vented before we can shut off the pumps and the-_"

_"I Don't care, get the pumps and the plant shut down, and if you call anyone, I will not hesitate to kill you_". Hiccup cringed at that, he didn't approve of that sort of thing. "Just get them shut down Moller". He put down the wrist communicator and as they hit the bottom, they headed through an emergency exit, entering a small, heavily shielded room.

"Radiation levels are rising, 0.5 Roentgens, what the hell?".

He turned, "I thought you said the highest we would encounter was 100 Milli-Roentgen". Gaeta slapped the dosimeter and retook the measurement, still the same. "Definitely 0.5". He reached for his mask. "Masks on, 0.5 is fine for now, but I don't want anymore".

"_We've managed to disable the pumps and the conveyor, but you need to hurry, this is not a fusion plant_".

"If its not fusion, then what in the Helheim is... Oh no".

"_They're lying. This isn't an laser fed fusion reactor, its a Graphite-cooled, water moderated nuclear fission plant_".

"Why the hell are they using fission".

"_Lots of reasons. It's cheaper, simpler, needs less infrastructure, and can generate just as much energy_". He took out a large mask. "Toothless you need to put this mask on, I don't want to risk you inhaling dangerous radiation". He approached the dragon. But Toothless stepped back and whined, "I'm sorry bud, but we need to protect your lungs". Wrestling the mask onto Toothless was a task, but he seemed to realise what was happening and calmed down. A quick check revealed the others doing the same. As they opened the door, the Dosimeter started beeping loudly. "Oh Thor, radiation levels through the roof, 110 Roentgens, we need to move fast". They began jogging, quickly dodging the conveyors and keeping their shields oriented towards large steel barrels with radiation warnings on. As they reached the center, Hiccup gulped at the massive circular reactor above him.

"_HICCUP! One of the asari just reactivated the reactor. You have seconds before it turns back on, GET OUT OF THERE_". He didn't think, and sprinted forth, the others behind him. As they weaved, they could hear large machines activating, and a humming sound grew progressively more high pitched.

Finally they reached the door. "Radiation levels at maximum capacity, 200 Roentgen!". They all dived through the door. One of the soldiers stumbled slightly, tripping over a piece of black rock and jarring his hand on it. In the last second before the reactor activated, Hiccup grabbed the man, and hauled him through the door, as it closed. They all stood breathing heavily. "Gaeta... Status on radiation?".

"Its... its stable at 3.9 Roentgens, not great not terrible".

Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief, he didn't know what radiation did, and frankly he didn't want to find out.

"All right, let's move to the coilgun".

* * *

**Unknown World, Titus Fedorian**  
"_Day 3 of being on this world. Our fleet escaped days ago. Ever since then the asari have been biding their time in orbit. Occasionally they send in a fighter for recon. It ain't for recon though, we've been here for 72 hours and they're doing it to rattle us._  
_Why? Because the Archians have two of those Shieldmaiden tanks, and those things rip through APCs like a neutron star. 12 times they tried to attack, and every time we use a human tactic they call guerrilla warfare. We hide in the woods surrounding the artefact and use traps. Mainly simple stuff like concealing a pit of spikes beneath some foliage. It ain't elegant or civilized but we can't let the blues get a hold of the ship._

_Its fairly small by our standards, 670 meters making it cruiser weight, but the worrying thing is the legs. It looks designed for ground combat. The hull is built around a central bulge which contains some sort of weapon, an accelerator of some sort. The tech is millennia ahead of what we have, and even Picard admits he doesn't know of anything in Archia of this technological advancement._

_The boys in science are trying to hack the drive core and detonate the main fuel tanks. It may be advanced, but it has to run on a fuel of some sort. My men think helium-3, the Archians think antimatter, some of our scientists think zero-point energy. The same energy which powers psionic cabals and element zero drives. That's the odd thing. Element zero. We found loads in the body, but why?_

_Why is it that almost every living species we encountered has only advanced down element zero. Well, that's easy actually, it's noticeably abundant. The only places which don't have it scattered everywhere is the Attican traverse. Because in order for it to be made, a star must go supernova. The Attican traverse has loads of stars, but it only has up to class G stars. Red, Orange and Yellow dwarfs, too small for a supernova._

_This ship is something bad, I'm calling it now. But we almost certainly won't make it out. I'm starting to see things. Shadows, murky and yellow in the night. Voices in my head. Its the lack of sleep. The humans have terrible rings around their eyes. At max we can get 4 hours then we swap for a guard shift. Its hell._  
_Fedorian out_".

He switched off the recorder and removed the data-stick. If they could ever reactivate the drive core they could send the data-sticks into orbit via a rocket, and use a gravity assist manoeuvre to slingshot towards the mass relay. From then on, hopefully an Archian or Turian patrol would encounter it. "Fedorian!". He turned to see Picard, the human captain.

The man was holding a rifle, "The scientists tell me they can overload the drive core within the hour, but the asari have scrambled everything they have. They're launching an assault from the north, and we can't repel this one. A battalion of armoured vehicles and soldiers are razing the forest as they go. Its slow but effective". He slid the datastick in an armoured package with the others, "What about the missile launchers?".

Picard gestured to a pile of now useless tubes. "We've been saving them for aircraft. The shieldmaiden locking systems are struggling to get through the eezo fields". He sighed, "Have them switch from RADAR to LIDAR, it may be less reliable but it will cut through the field better".

"We don't have a LIDAR dish".

"Then we're screwed Picard, we can't win this. Detonating the ship and scuttling the troops is our win". He picked up his own rifle from the table, alongside a shield generator. "Victory at any cost, and the Longsword didn't die for us to hand over precursor tech to the blues". He hurried past the human, heading for the barricades, where a shieldmaiden was steadily rotating its main barrel. "Anything staff sergeant". The turian manning a machine gun snapped up, obviously on the verge of going to sleep.

"Nothing Captain, they've fallen silent".

The forest echoed his sentiment, the once prevalent gunfire and explosions from the asari wiping out the forest gone. "Tell every second person to fire a single low calibre shot at anything they find suspicious on my mark". He nodded, and began shelling out orders. "Something up Fedorian?", asked Picard.

"Nothing from the asari, even though they where 2 miles away 12 minutes ago". The silence was unnerving. Even more so than the gunfire. "Ready sir". He raised his own rifle. "Fire". Across the Archian and Turian line, in order everyone fired a shot. Moments later, a terrifying screeching cut through the air. The woods came alive with hundreds upon hundreds of creatures. They where five feet tall. Very thing and limber with blue veins and arteries which glowed! Like zombies from old human films thought Picard.

The sight was absolutely terrifying and it made his blood run cold as he opened fire, the tank letting out a shot from its plasma railgun. The beings didn't have any guns, but their razor sharp hands cut through a poor human with no problem. As it did the human collapsed dead. They went down easily, but more just came. Whenever one was brought down, a dozen took its place. "Tactical retreat! Don't stop firing!".

They began to retreat back towards the starship, constantly keeping a spray of fire on the things. But there was an endless supply, pouring from the woods. To make matters worse, one of them swung their claws at a human. He mostly dodged thankfully, but the now blue marks began to pulsate. And he collapsed on the ground. The shieldmaiden was doing an excellent job. But it was soon overwhelmed, unable to follow its brethren up the entrance ramp. And a massive detonation indicated that it's crew had activated it's self-destruct mechanism. Finally they reached the starship entrance, and a pair of heavy metal doors swung down. "That won't hold them forever. We need to regroup and detonate the ship before those things spread".

"What the fuck are those things Cap?", asked a traumatised scientist. Picard shook his head, "I don't know, in my 12 years of captaincy I have never seen or heard anything like this. They're like husks. Empty and uncaring of all emotion". Fedorian checked his gun. The cooling system was fine, but the lead blocks which they used in their rifles had now become very small, just a tiny cube remaining. Soon he wouldn't have any lead at all, and they needed the lead so that the eezo field generated could shave off a sand-grain sized slug which would be accelerated to high velocity.

As they continued deeper into the depths of the ship, the rooms became more crowded, and Fedorian felt an unnerving feeling spreading through his body. Like he was being watched. Every shadow became a being suddenly, and he felt like curling up into a corner. By the looks of things, Picard felt the same, and was nervously glancing around, constantly keeping his longsword pointed at the shadows.

"SIR!". He snapped round. The husks had broken through, and where dashing towards them, their mouths curved into a startlingly human smile. It only added to the horror. No, not horror, this was terror.

He raised his rifle, firing an endless stream and keeping the heat sinks open. He knew it carried a risk of the gun exploding in his hands, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Slowly their forces dwindled. Each time a soldier fell, he felt the sickening sense of dread grow. At one point his own weapon clicked empty. Now lacking any form of assault aside from his talons and sidearm. He threw the weapon away and dashed towards a set of doors which led to the drive core.

He heard a blood-curdling cry and turned round briefly- to see Picard in agony, as one of the husks had ripped out a piece of red flesh from his chest. Behind thearmy chasing them, he could see hundreds more climbing through the vents and out of gaps in the side. As he entered the drive core section. Husks grabbed the walkway he was on and climbed up. He could see the scientists ahead trying and failing to fight them off. One noticed him, a human woman, who was terrified beyond belief and tossed a control panel over, connected to a set of wires.

A look behind him and he noticed something. The husks... they where dressed in asari uniforms. The asari where the husks! They had been infected with something. Not even the empire was barbaric enough to turn their soldiers into monstrosities like this, right?. Behind him he heard another blood curdling screech, and watched as a poor monstrous nightmare fell from the edge, husks covering his body.

The control panel was meters away, if he could just... A strong hand grabbed his neck, and threw him against a pillar, the impact was jarring, and as he struggled to breathe he looked upon his attacker. A slightly different husk wearing the uniform of a turian soldier. The face was barely recognisable, glowing blue and covered in welts. He dimly recognised that the nametag said this one Private Chaffie, a turian sent on a recon mission to the asari lines who had never returned.

He raised his sidearm and fired a full clip, but the private raised an arm, and the blue, shimmering barrier of an Archian shield generator lit into life. _Spirits help us, they become what they take_. He managed to gain surprise over the being by throwing a dagger on his belt into its side, and it looked at the wound with a look which said, Really? You threw a dagger? He used the momentary distraction to roll away and grab the control panel. But a ripping pain shot through his arm, as one of the husks tore at his flesh. Another bit into his side and he screamed aloud.

His final thoughts before he activated the mechanism, See you soon mother.

The drive core collapsed in on itself. The asari fleet in orbit watched in disbelief as an explosion thousands of times larger than the biggest archian warheads rippled out. The explosion carried enough energy to vaporise a small asteroid, and the hail of rocks blast into orbit was so thick, that their GUARDIAN lasers and anti-collision kinetic barriers simply failed. The fleet was obliterated by the rain of molten rocks catapulted up by an explosion so large it was visible from thousands of kilometres away. The entire planet was wrought with global earthquakes and the shockwave would spend the next few days crisscrossing the planet.

The impact had 17 times the energy of the Chicxulub asteroid which killed the dinosaurs, and the entire region surrounding where the ship had once been was vaporised in an instant. As the precursor ship resulted in the Archian ship and the turian ships all detonating at the same time with their own nuclear sized explosion. Even in 200 years time,t the planet would still be recovering from a nuclear winter. A stark reminder of the cost of war.

"_I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones", _Albert Einstein, University of Jerusalem before the Flooding

* * *

**Codex Entry: Ground Vehicles of the Federation**  
Shieldmaiden Main Battle Tank - Armed with a plasma railgun, a pair of coaxial autocannons and a gimbal mounted plasma lobber, the Shieldmaiden is a versatile and reliable vehicle. The tank itself is fairly unremarkable by council standards, however when it first entered the battlefield, its double use as both an APC and an MBT made it a very dangerous threat, as many times it would play host to a squad of Archian soldiers. Its armour is very thick, and it remains the largest vehicle to be equipped with shields which feature a unique sensor system which allow them to drop when firing the guns.

Ambassador MLRS - Possessing a single mounted machine gun, one would think that the Ambassador was a weak threat, and one not capable of defending itself. This is true for the most part, as the vehicle lacks shields of any form. However, the Ambassador uses its extra power and space to host a massive battery of super-heavy plasma lobbers. The battery uses a magnetic projectile to keep the plasma contained, and can fire guided plasma charges for up to 14 kilometres. Or the tubes can be replaced with micro-torpedo launchers allowing it to dispatch orbital stations with little difficulty.

Tunguska SPAAG - The Tunguska Self Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun is an understatement name for one of the most lethal vehicles in the arsenal. While its primary role it to act as a mobile anti-aircraft platform. The 2 40 millimetre Haddock Ballistics Point Defence Cannons are excellent anti-infantry guns, and can rip through hole platoons in seconds. These vehicles are among the most dangerous in the federation, and can even rip through light tanks and armoured personnel carriers (APCs) while acting as a mobile point defence grid as well.

Archangel Assault Platform - The second vehicle created by engineers very likely sniffing dragon-nip, we aren't sure how a 500 meter tall giant armoured walker got into the federation and entered production but here we are. The Archangel is sometimes called the GDR (Giant Death Robot) by those who pilot them, and their twin light warship-grade railguns can eviscerate anything which dares challenge it. If they don't work, a few dozen PDCs, micro-torpedo launchers, missile batteries, coilgun batteries, plasma lobbers or even the thor-damned hangar bay built into the command tower will probably finish the job. No archangels have ever been destroyed in battle, even during the first contact war. It takes the shape of a massive spider. The main middle section has hosts the two railguns, and the four articulated legs are what make it so massive as they make the vehicle nigh impossible stop, and host a few PDCs each.


	17. Calibans War

One thing which cropped up was a question on why the Archian point defence bullets are made of tungsten and Teflon. Well, changewings can fire acid, which could weaken and disrupt tungsten, which is incredibly dense. Teflon is completely acid resilient. (Chemistry geeks will know that the hydrogen-fluorine bonds are the strongest bonds in existence) I've been generous and given changewings pure Sulphuric acid, which can burn through flesh and metal in seconds. Teflon is resilient to everything, including the worlds strongest superacid.

If you're interested the worlds strongest acid is Fluoro-antimonic acid. It has a PH of -26 making it 10000000000000000000000000000 times stronger than stomach acid. It is so acidic you can't even measure how acidic it is. You can't put it in a test tube it'll eat the test tube. You can't put it under a fume hood, it'll eat that, then the table below, and probably the ground below, and likely turn your body into organic goo. Yes even your bones. The antimony will burn through the calcium in your bones like a hot knife through butter, and you will not survive.

**Dalitari, Asari Empire Arms Manufacturing Colony**  
A shimmer in the night. A distant blue glow, and a faint distortion of spacetime was the only warning given by the Archians as their fleet dropped from warp. Instantly hundreds of warships shot forth, all bearing down on the Asari world ahead. Dalitari was an important world. As one of the fringe colonies, it was expected to have much lower defensive capabilities like normal, however the unusually metal rich core meant that it served as the military ship-building supplier for asari shipwrights, and as such the massive mining colony was protected by a fleet of almost seven hundred warships including a pair of brand new, State-of-the-Art Dreadnoughts. The dreadnoughts where constantly on stand by, and as well as them, the world boasted almost 30 battleships, 40 battlecruisers, 120 heavy cruisers, 200 cruisers and 350 frigates as well as a smattering of other warships.

Alongside them was a salarian fleet which was en route to a different system. Being a different race, the salarian warships where designed slightly differently to their Asari cousins. While the asari fleets reminded Admiral Avescerala of cathedrals, with their blue glow, faint lights and massive command spires, the salarian ships where longer and more subtle with their displays of power. They certainly didn't lack armament, after all the salarians where second only to the asari in terms of technology and their own fleet boasted a dreadnought hovering amid 80 cruisers each escorted by a wolfpack of four frigates as per standard salarian naval doctrine. This brought the Asari fleet up to well over a thousand fully fledged warships and over 20 smaller civilian ships outfitted with weaponry, which where clumsily forming into an arrowhead around the asari dreadnought _Nebula_. The _Nebula_ was the de facto flagship for the Dalitari defence fleet, and had the most advanced sensors in the fleet.

Unlike with Admiral Lidanya and her own ships, the _Nebula_ had minutes to prepare for battle, as moments after the Archian fleet arrived a general broadcast covered the entire system.

"_Attention Asari fleet. This is not a test, and this is not a game. You have 180 seconds to prepare for battle. This is a war, and we will not hesitate to win_".

Immediately fighters where scrambled from the Asari fleet, and a swarm of dragons hundreds thick dropped from the Archian fleet, all coming into formation perfectly behind the Aurora and Raptor spearhead of the Archian strike craft fleet. Torpedoes dropped from the Archian fleet and accelerated to cruising speed on the 120 second mark, just 100 seconds from impacting the Asari fleet. The blues moved their frigates to form a wall in front of their dreadnoughts and battleships, while the more versatile cruisers stuck to their flanks, and the salarian fleet tried not to be noticed, as they lacked the silaris plating and heavy kinetic barriers of the Asari, but hosted far more powerful mass accelerators which could accelerate smaller 2 kilo slugs to almost 13% lightspeed. They also hosted an advantage with their GUARDIAN grids.

RAMPART and GUARDIAN grids for the asari and turians consisted of entirely infra-red and low-frequency light waves. Why? Because firing high intensity beams in atmosphere would be like using bullets underwater. The water vapour in atmosphere and even the air itself diffracted and refracted the light in ways which reduced their frequency. To compensate the Asari and Turians ramped up the wavelength allowing the waves to pass straight over the molecules. Something anyone who's studied the Heisenberg uncertainty principle would tell you . It turns out the phenomenon was not only the bane of quantum mechanics, but also the use of lasers in atmosphere. Since the salarians believed that you should win a war before it started, their doctrine never really resulted in ships capable of large scale planetary assaults unlike asari and turian ships. As such fighting in an airless environment meant their lasers had no such restrictions.

Since a higher frequency also means more energy, the Salarian ultra-violet and blue-light GUARDIAN towers where far more powerful than others, and put even turian RAMPART grids to shame. Somewhat less fortunately they required even more cooling, and cooling something in space was difficult, and the ultra-light, super-emission carbon polymer and metal alloy they used in their ships made them even flimsier than turian hulls. It also meant you couldn't put as many barrier emitters on the hull. But who needed barriers when the enemy couldn't get enough disruptor torpedoes through to disable them? Naturally the Archian ships stood out with their 40 millimetre point defence turrets. With each bullet individually made of a tungsten metal slug, wrapped in non-reactive Teflon which could withstand changewing acid.

The two fleets silently drove at full speed towards each other. The lack of any medium making it unbearably silent to any observers. The first things fired, where the long range guided missiles from the Archian fighter screen, which locked onto the asari fighter screen and began taking down fighters. The asari pilots opted to split into evasive manoeuvres immediately, dropping their squadron tactics in favour of engaging the Archian fighter ships in ship-to-ship combat individually. Some of the more experienced Archian pilots engaged with their cannons, blowing small neat holes in the fighters. The asari accelerators fired at much higher velocities, and perforated the entire craft without difficulty. This was especially damaging to the Raptors, which suffered casualties when some of the asari pilots began targeting their overexposed engines at the rear, leaving them dead.

Gimballed cannons began spitting out plasma and bullets at the asari planes in an attempt to protect the bombers. Split into squadrons each group had been assigned a designated a target by the _Deathbringer's_ 'Scarlett' Computer system. As the first group entered range, a full salvo of micro-torpedoes dropped from their fuselage, and they pulled away quickly. Micro-torpedoes carried warheads half as powerful as standard torpedoes but a much shorter range than torpedoes. Only a few thousand kilometres while torpedoes could travel across almost 4 astronomical units on engines, or glide passively for an entire star system with their tracking systems scanning for targets, making them double as mines as well.

As the battle between the fighters intensified, both fleets final entered range of the asari and salarian guns. The _Nebula_ swivelled slightly, before firing both of its main accelerators at an Archian frigate which was slightly ahead. The first of the shots slammed into the torpedo launchers, resulting in a feedback loop where several plasma missiles currently being loaded where dislodged, and sprayed blinding hot plasma over everything. The second shot went into the right engine mount. It caused the high pressure fuel to explode outwards, as the ionised gases expanded, and matter met antimatter.

The _Deathbringer_ responded by sweeping its Magnetic Projection cannons across the asari cruisers, taking a pair out and leaving a third bleeding gas from one of it's wings. The turian fleet mostly fired its disruptor torpedoes at the asari battlecruisers, aiming to remove them early as they posed a large threat to the faster fighters and bombers, as their computer systems where by far the latest and most common. The Archian corvette screen, lead by the corvette _Lightmaker_ brushed straight towards the Asari frigate wolfpacks and began using their railguns to rip apart the frigates quickly. Their point defence cannons sweeped across the hulls of the frigates, leaving many with ugly gashes and scorchmarks on the hull. Having now realised her mistake, the _Nebula_ along with a pair of its escorts attempted to interdict themselves between the battlecruisers and the disruptor volley, however it did little to help, as it left the starboard side GUARDIAN lasers of the _Nebula_ completely disabled, and a pair of gunships buzzed across their hull, lighting it up with their heavy 40 millimetre cannons, which left visible marks on the hull plating of the dreadnought.

With the dreadnought now lacking a point defence grid, the corvettes _Danube_ and _Pripyat_ pulled into range of its broadside cannons and fired pinpoint railgun slugs towards the mass accelerators, succeeding in knocking 3 out, and disabling the GUARDIAN grids even further. The _Pripyat_ dropped a squadron of Wingmaidens and Crusaders for use in boarding actions. Leading them was Atali Romanov, who dropped into the hangar bay and expertly detonated one of the asari shuttles which was refuelling. The crusadors, with their much heavier battle armour and extended shield arrays alongside gravity hammers (huge hammers which could cause entire tanks to be crushed) steadily advanced, occasionally using their hammers to swing an arc of fire towards the asari marines, who found themselves in a retreating battle, as neither heavy weapons nor mass accelerators could breach the blue tinted shielding arrays held by the crusaders. The boarding party would prove vital in disabling the starboard side accelerator, but the AWS_ Danube_ caught a lucky mass accelerator round from the Asari cruiser _Humino_, which shut down the engines.

At the back of the human formation, the battlecruiser _Chernobyl_ seemed to take an interest in the salarian dreadnought, and both ships began pulling into a head on ramming position. The _Chernobyl_ swivelled its main railguns round, and laser ranging began pinpointing exactly where they could fire for the most damage. In particular, the two VX-24 Warhammer Super-heavy railguns swivelled and targeted the accelerators. At point blank range, both guns fired. The two projectiles slammed into the salarian dreadnought at a significant fraction of lightspeed, and just ignored any armour they found. As they tore through deck following deck, they killed anyone remotely near. The Fapale Ubano itself fired its mass accelerators, one missed completely, the other struck the forward bulkhead of the Chernobyl resulting in several of its PDCs to halt firing as they lacked energy to do so,

The round continued through the ship until it hit deck 40 where it lodged into a backwall. The damage was quickly localised as it left a small hole roughly 20 centimetres in diameter. The _Fapale Ubano_ however was ruined by both railgun slugs as they penetrated through 3 decks before stopping. However all three decks where entirely vented of most of their atmosphere. The pressure escaping quickly once the vacumn of space became unseparated from them, and leaving the fragile reptilians completely dead from the comparatively tiny temperature. The Chernobyl then decided in finishing the job, as almost all of its PDCs swept their fire across the _Fapale Ubano_ and peppering the entire hull. Fighters usually reserved for mothership defence of the battlecruiser pulled into wide arcs and targeted their autocannons at vital subsystems.

The_ Ubano_ seemed to realise its fate, and immediately deactivated its thrusters, and put all energy into the main reactor. The resulting power surge was fatal to the dying vessel, and as it disappeared under the force of a star, the _Chernobyl_ also disappeared in the explosion, and the intense waves of heat melted through the hull, completely destroying the battlecruiser, and killing two thirds of her crew as the life support simply failed to vent out the excess thermal energy, cooking the crew from the inside out, leaving the occasional marine or crewman who had been sheltered by a dragon friend capable of withstanding the intense heat. As the battle progressed, a wolfpack of asari frigates seemed to realise their fate, and opted for a new tactic, choosing to engage their engines and buzz around a Resilience class frigate, the _AWS Ignalina_. They then swung their broadside mass accelerators round and put slug following slug into the thruster block of the _Ignalina_. The effect was devastating and the rounds where far more effective against the intrinsically more complicated Epstein drives used by the Archians, as opposed to the vastly simpler fusion drives.

The _Ignalina_ was left unmoving, completely vulnerable to enemy weapons fire, and it would be struck by several dreadnought grade mass accelerator rounds later, destroying it. This tactic spurred something new, and the empire frigates seemed to break formation with the cruisers and dreadnoughts which opted to scram, on realising their frigate escort was no longer protecting them. A big mistake as the Archian bombers pounced on them, firing rockets and missiles towards the larger warships, and completely circumventing their GUARDIAN grids. A costly move. The asari tried to counter this by launching their bombers and shuttles, another fatal move as the raptors once again pounced on them.

Within 3 hours the battle had ended, but the figures where a much steeper tale than those at Freezing-to-Death. The Archians lost a battlecruiser, 3 cruisers and 12 corvettes. 2 frigates where severely damaged and the _Deathbringer_ missing a small railgun from its ventral side. The fleet in orbit had established dominance though, and behind them a large detachment of light carriers dropped from FTL, beginning to deploy massive swarms of transports, strike craft and even dragons equipped with high-sensitivity kinetic barriers allowing them to survive not only vacumn, but re-entry.

**Hiccup Haddock, Asari Empire Space**  
As Hiccup and Toothless reached the tip of the coilgun, he got a sickening glimpse of the ground below. He had never been affected by heights before. Especially considering his best friend and all-but-in-blood brother, but perched on the colossal anti-ship gun and staring down the barrel of possibly the most powerful weapon he had ever seen was a humbling thing. Behind him, the others emerged, all either riding or being carried on a dragon. "We enter down the main barrel, then use the emergency exit to enter the control facility, you got it?".

They all nodded, and Gaeta removed the dosimeter from his belt, putting it back in a black backpack and retrieving a tiny blue and white stick. The virus. As he entered, the appearance of the tunnel made him gulp, and Toothless uneasily groan as they climbed down the barrel. The arrangement of the coilgun was like in its name, with a long coil of reddish material which seemed to faintly luminesce in the light from his helmet and armour. As they continued to descend, the walls seemed to press in more. The silence became unnerving and there was nothing but this gaunt quiet permeating the barrel. Hiccup got a slight sense of Deja Vu reminding him of the Red Death, except they couldn't simply fire a plasma bolt at this gun if it started to fire, they would simply be dead.

"We should be nearing the emergency exit", he heard Gaeta comment. Soon after his comm unit buzzed, "_Hiccup this is Anderson, status?_".

"We're moving into the gun now, how far away is the asari convoy?".

"_They're arriving earlier than expected and are approaching the relay as we speak. The Spirit of Fire is awaiting jump coordinates, ETA 10 minutes_".

"Copy that Anderson. Alright guys lets speed this up a little". The others nodded and began jogging down the gun, carefully ensuring they didn't trip down the coils of wire. While they where sculpted in a way which made traversal possible, they weren't the most secure of walkways. Hiccup noticed James lagging behind slightly, one hand in his suit pocket, the other hung at his side. "You alright James?".

The man perked up, "Yes sir, just hit my elbow at the entrance, now my hand's gone numb". Hiccup blinked, "Uhh, okay them. You good to continue?".

"Yes sir, should be alright in a few minutes. Got pins and needles", he said, shaking it slightly. Hiccup patted him on the back. "Understood James, holler if you need help".

The man nodded slightly, shaking his gloved hand again and staring at it like it offended him.

As they finally reached the bottom of the gun, Gaeta moved to the door and drew out a tablet. Connecting a wire between the two, he repeatedly tapped the keys, until the door shimmered green, and slid open. Khodemchuk gave a hearty slap to Gaeta, "I like this one, he know how to be sneaky". The squad had a good laugh at Gaeta's blush, and began to enter the airlock. James was last through the door and slammed the button. In an instant the corridor lit up, and the door shut. The airlock itself was a small room, with several lockers and tools scattered about.

The far door slid open revealing a dimly lit grey corridor with triangular supports every few meters, the walls where very clean, and several red LEDs gave the corridor a very cynical overtone. Hiccup gulped as the squad entered the building, "Gaeta which way?".

"Through the next door on the right. By the way oxygen levels are stable so we can remove masks". Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief at not having to be in the cramped helmet anymore. He would need to talk to Anderson when he got back about a possible upgrade. As they filtered through the doorway into the control room entrance, Hiccup knocked out one of the guards, while Toothless jumped on the other. In the room, the seven asari and 2 salarians slowly raised their hands as Hiccup turned his gun round.

"Khodemchuk, get them into a storage closet or something and knock'em out". The burly Russian smiled and gestured to the door, "Come on aliens, let us find a hiding spot for you". As he left with a few others to ensure the transfer went smoothly, Gaeta took out the stick from earlier and jammed it into the computer system.

"Anderson the Virus is in the system, let us know when to initiate the IFF switcher".

"_Right on time Hiccup, the mass relay just shot Heift and the civi ships, should be arriving in 3 seconds_".

He cut the link, "GAETA FIRE IT NOW". He pressed down on the button, and the entire gun began to move. Hiccup grabbed a desk to steady himself, and soon after, the structure began to vibrate. "Firing at a battlecruiser in 3, 2, 1".

The coilgun fired, in an instant, a metal slug was accelerated to almost 3% lightspeed. The slug was travelling at the very precipice of being affected by the laws of relativity, and the projectile whipped across the 2000 kilometres between the gun and an orbiting asari battlecruiser very sharply, hitting it before anyone knew what happened. The round splashed onto the kinetic barriers, being completely stopped and deformed, but taking out almost 98% of the barriers in the process. And Hiccup knew that the shot would do fatal damage next time. At the same time, a console at the wall for monitoring mass relay travel lit up, warning of an incoming enemy fleet.

Gaeta pressed another button, reporting the reading as false, and not needing further transmission. "_Hiccup this is Admiral Heift, we sure owe you one. Upload these targets and get out of here_".

His omnitool pinged, and he sent the coordinates to Gaeta, who uploaded them to the computer, and removed the device. "Mission complete, the ships in orbit can't do anything to the gun, the atmosphere angle is too shallow, but we have 2 minutes till the dreadnought _Stormcannon_ picks up the signal, and a further 8 minutes until it re-tasks an orbital defence platform to take out the gun".

"By then we'll be long gone. Pack up and lets go!". Toothless growled at the door, and Hiccup saw why, as a pair of asari charged forward. He ignited his plasma sword, and leapt forward, swinging it across the first's chest and wiping her kinetic barriers in one foul swoop. The other was thrown backwards by a plasma blast from Toothless, burning her face and likely killing her. Around the corner, Khodemchuk and the others where firing their unsuppressed plasma weapons down the corridor, as bullets pinged off of the walls.

"Anderson, tell me we have a way out?".

"_Head for the hangar bay, level 2. There's a pair of shuttles there_".

He nodded, "FOLLOW ME!". And with that they ran forth from the hail of bullets. As they made their way down the twisting corridors, they alternated firing their weapons at a large contingent of marines which where constantly trying to take them out. One of the bullets struck a fellow soldier in the head, and he collapsed. A thin metal canister was suddenly thrown at them. "GRENADE!". In a scene he would never forget, a Nadder jumped forward onto the grenade hugging up to the explosive device, and saving likely all of them as the grenade barely exploded beyond launching the poor dragon down the corridor. The soldier whose Nadder had done it screamed in fury, and before any of the Archians could react, charged down the corridor, firing his rifle and his plasma sword. Scoring hit after hit before an overwhelming amount of firepower was poured into his chest.

They continued the retreat, and the situation grew more dire, as a metallic clanging noise reverberated out, and a large bipedal metal thing clunked foreward, firing a pair of massive machine guns at them. Khodemchuck, obviously miffed at the apparent lack of intelligence suggesting the enemy had mec suits, gave an annoyed shout and detached a pouch from his belt, priming something on it, and chucking it towards the asari marines.

"TAKE COVER!", He screamed as they all dived into a large chamber to the right. It was an armoury of some sort, but that didn't matter as the door swung closed. A heavy boom reverberated out and several screams pierced the gunfire and death coming from outside. This was only punctuated by the coilgun firing again, and shaking the entire room.

"Hiccup we have a problem, we're trapped".

**Codex Entry: Magnetic Weapons**  
Ever since the second world war, magnetic weapons have been a staple of human imagination, the thought of being independent of gunpowder, black powder or chemical propellant being an attractive one, as in theory the only resources for the weapon would be electricity and the projectile. However in the early 21st century, a realisation dawned on designers. Magnetic Weapons where expensive, difficult to produce and very energy intensive. Railguns required a huge amount of maintenance on the rails themselves, while coilguns where ineffective and required somewhat extreme levels of electricity generation, however after the great floods and the dragon exodus back to humanity, the Archians ventured out into the stars, and finally found a use for the accelerators.

A Magnetic Accelerator is a slightly simplified term as there are in fact two types of magnetic weapons. The first is the coilgun. A coilgun is made of a long solenoid of electro-conductive material, usually with a barrel which has been pumped to a vacuum. When sending electrical current through the solenoid, a highly powerful magnetic field is created surrounding the coil, which will push ferro-magnetic projectiles onward with a huge velocity. As opposed to railguns, they require much less in the way of maintenance as the projectile never actually touches the solenoid, however the projectile must have its own magnetic field, or at least be a magnetic material. Examples include, Iron, Steel and Cobalt. Coilguns are utilised exclusively as plasma weapons since plasma itself is magnetically charged, and as an additional source of velocity for traditional gunpowder weapons (See: Haddock Ballistics 40 millimetre Point Defence Cannon), however the Council Races, and many Element Zero races use coilguns due to their cheaper cost, maintenance and the ability to infuse coilguns with element zero, increasing their power.

Railguns are a slightly different type of magnetic accelerator. Composed of two parallel rails with the projectile in between. An electrical current is ran up the first rail, across the projectile (which must remain in contact with the rails) and back down the second rail. Ignoring 12 hours of complicated and boring physics, just accept that the electrical fields created, push the projectile along at an absolutely massive velocity, much greater than the degree at which coilguns work. This comes with downsides however. While the projectile does not need to be magnetic, only electrically conductive (Can conduct electricity, Steel, Copper, Skrill Scales) as it remains in contact with the rails the maintenance requirements of a railgun are much greater. Modern day warship railguns use Gronkle iron polished to within Nano-meters of tolerances, infused with super-conducting materials to carry the current. The rails are interspersed with carbon nanotubes which pump super-coolant through the railguns to prevent the rails melting or vaporising.

Both railguns and coilguns get extremely hot during operation, and this is why many ships do not constantly fire them, usually with pauses in between. Overclocking the railguns and coilguns carries a serious risk of thermal overload, which would melt the gun, contrary to the movie trope of it making the ship explode, or creating sparks. The gun would simply cease functioning.  
Thanks to the presence of element zero, the council can fire projectiles at a much greater velocity than Archian accelerators, however Council shells cannot exceed 20 kilograms, without each projectile likely cracking the ship in half due to a very real risk of 'Element Zero Poisoning'. In this the mass effect field created surrounding the projectile would have to be so strong it actually affects the gun and ship components surrounding it. No known material is strong enough to resist this effect, and for that reason, most kinetic barriers are designed to defend against projectiles of this size. Railguns on the other hand do not lose effectiveness with a larger projectile, and there is no risk of Element Zero Poisoning. If the mounting of the railgun can handle the recoil, the ship can fire it without difficulty, provided it can generate enough power.


	18. Uppercut

**Sorry I am late, but I was at Scout camp for leader training and preparations for my charity trip to Kenya. Its in August so I'll try to upload a new chapter and have one in advance, but the truth is the internet may be sketchy and I'll be spending most of my time helping.**

_**And the week before he's giving himself radiation poisoning**_

**Umm, I think you'll find radiation levels around the Chernobyl nuclear plant are just fine. So get lost Jamie, and yes I am headed to Chernobyl in the summer, so I'll see ya next time.**

* * *

**Dalitari, Planetary Patrol RF67**  
High above the surface of Dalitari, a lone shuttle dipped above the clouds and came to a steady flight path. On each flank of the shuttle, a door opened and a gimballed cannon was affixed to the floor via a heavy mount. Inside of the shuttle was asari soldier Anucilea Juneal. She was 118 years old, and had joined the military at the age of 65. She was a quiet person, somewhat nervous and shy. Her deep azure skin played host to a set of clan markings resembling stars on her cheeks, and she wore a set of sleek white armour, along with an oxygen mask to compensate for the high altitude. As the clouds beneath the shuttle where whipped up slightly, she checked her omni-tool again.  
Nothing on the sensors, nothing on Radar, nothing on passive scans. From the command deck of the shuttle (A two seater cockpit) the pilot gave a shout, "Anything Juneal?"  
She shook her head as she answered, "Nope, nothing on any sensors, and I can't see any contacts". The pilot sighed, "Dalitari command, nothing reported on grid square, moving to next". The shuttle began to bank to the left, and she increased her grip on the gun slightly, watching as the setting sun gently illuminated the golden clouds. Had she been paying attention behind her, she might have seen the single fin poking up through the clouds and leaving a white trail in its path.

She finally noticed it when it pulled into her field of vision and was stopped dead. It was a person! They where about her height, dressed in an odd, tribal-looking garb with a blue and red painted circular panel in their hand, and holding an oddly designed staff of some sort. "Juneal I just lost contact with the base, status?".

She couldn't answer as the figure dipped back below the clouds again. "Okay, no sudden moves, but there's something bene- WOAH!". The figure had reappeared again, and now she was riding on the back of a mighty beast. It was massive, larger than the average fighter, possible as large as their shuttle. Quite bulky, and with a pair of odd, reptile like wings. As it orbited round, the wings split into two sets, both constantly working to keep the massive beast suspended in the air, attached to the odd hand-like bones which seemed to connect the wings to the creatures torso was a pair of claws which where fairly blunt and unremarkable, and the head was an odd thing to look at. With a wide mouth hosting several razor sharp teeth, and a set of eyebrow plates which connected to two blue eyes and a pulsating flap of skin behind the head which seemed to rise and fall with the creatures facial expressions.

The demon rider on its back was still there, stood with just as much confidence as before, and as she raised her staff and pointed it at Juneal, she was finally snapped from her revere by the pilot screaming something and pulling away. "Opening fire!". She began to shoot her gimballed rifle towards the creature (Drag-on?) The blue shots leaving faint trails. The creature roared, before letting out a burst of flame which missed by several feel, yet she could still feel the heat of the flames, see the swirling fire engulf the clouds beneath her. She continued to fire, until something slammed into the shuttle. It was a very large and bulky dragon, made of several heavily armoured body sections, a bulbous club-like tail and a pair of wings which flapped like oversized insect wings. It also hosted a rider, dressed in armour which seemed to incorporate his dragons design into them.

The impact tore the fuselage apart, and soon after, the main fuel tank detonated, consuming the pilot, consuming Anucilea Juneal. In her last moments of life, she felt no fear. Only a deep-rooted respect for the Archians. Their dragon friends truly where breathtaking, shame she would never live to see peace between them. She would not be the last either.

* * *

**Planetary Staging Ground, Dalitari Capital City**  
"We lost contact with the patrol twelve minutes ago, we believe that the humans are making their assault to the south in the plains. Our task is to defend the bridge located here", said the commandant. She was a tall asari, with a surprising lack of clan markings and a much lighter aqua blue skin tone. She spoke quick, and Private T'Vassa nodded with the rest of the battalion. Several APCs and Hovertanks slowly glided by.

The APCs where long and squat, with a low turret attached to the forward hull. A turian design by nature as evidenced by the more shruggish design, however it was tough. Reports had said APCs could withstand a couple of direct hits from the Archian Shieldmaiden tanks. The hovertanks less so. Made up of four revolving repulsor engines fixed to a narrow and angular hull, the hovertank had the appearance of a fish with repulsor engines. But it carried a much greater combat utility than the APCs, possessing an eezo cannon, set of high velocity rocket pods, a pair of coaxial machine guns and a small anti-aircraft missile launcher.

Some had been retrofitted with hastily put together smoke bombs and she even saw one with a jury-rigged rotary cannon (what the humans called a gatling cannon). All around her, soldiers in stark white armour where checking their weapons and picking up several lead blocks. The lead was ammunition for her rifle, and she hastily packed a pair of the blocks into her armour, before joining the rest of the squad and watching as the commandant handed out kinetic barrier generators. "Now, these are the new kinetic barriers. They're waaaay more sensitive than our recent ones, but less powerful. They can take a small burst of plasma fire from the Archians, and maybe shrug off a missile if you're lucky, but watch out for their gunships. Those bullets ain't gonna be stopped by any armour we have except vehicles".

The gunships, the dreaded gunships. She had heard stories from the survivors from the Archian world, Freezing-to-Death. They where terrifying. All depicted an unholy demon rising into the sky. It was bulky and indestructible, its main gun spat out massive metal chunks which tore through barriers, armour and limbs alike, and she dreaded to think what kind of other horrors it might pack as they knew for a fact it was seen carrying missiles and rockets, so she could only hope they where rare. "And for the love of Armali, keep an eye out for dragons. Remember, the only two we know detailed informationof are these". She brought up an image and enlarged it to a hologram. "The deadly nadder. Quick and agile. They're intelligent and careful. Do not approach from the tail as they have spikes laced with botulinum-B, not even our new barriers will protect against the spikes, and they breath magnesium before igniting it. Hotter than what we can protect, even the APCs struggle against these". Her breath hitched at that, the fear of being burnt alive was not a pleasant one.

"Then we have the Gronkle. Very tough and resilient, these can take a missile and shrug it off like its nothing which is why we've loaded the APCs with AP rounds. Take care on attacking from the front, as they fire high explosive sulphur infused rock charges. Less powerful than your typical nadder shot but definitely dangerous if you aren't paying attention, so we found it best to make some noise". She brought down the holograms and fixed them all with a glare. "That's another thing. Make some noise, we think that while the dragons are used to loud noises, prolonged exposure to them may reduce accuracy. Remember we know of at least 12 other species". She brought up more pictures, "The Monstrous Nightmare, the Hobblegrunt, the Terrible and Night Terrors, the Smothering Smokebreath, the Hideous Zippleback". She shivered at that one. The two-headed beast was absolutely horrifying, and she dreaded to think what it could do. "The Raincutter, Crimson Goregutter". What where with these names?! They made the dragons sound even more terrifying. "Scauldron, Razorwhip, Thunderdrum and... ". She faltered at the last one, but a new voice interrupted, "The Night Fury, or what we call, the Ardat Yakshi".

The entire group began whispering, T'Vassa was horrified. Ardat Yakshi translated to 'Demon of the Night Winds', and there was only one thing which was terrifying enough to warrant the name. Well two now. Before she could internally debate the fact anymore, another soldier rounded a still APC. She was dressed in blue, white and black warrior. She also had a thin metallic sword fixed to her hip, and sported a number of small scars. She had a paler complexion than many, and darker clan tattoos surrounding her face and in patterns across her forehead. "The Night Fury is not something you can deal with". Another soldier, a young maiden with a smirk crossed her arms, "Oh yeah? What makes it so scary huh?". A glint crossed the arrivals eyes and she drew her sword, admiring it and advancing on the soldier, who by now had realised her mistake and was backing away. "The Night Fury, is as black as death. It waits until it turns night-time, then it cruises at very high altitude, higher than ground defences can fire. It picks its target carefully, say... an unsuspecting patrol. Then it dives". The soldier was now pressed against a hovertank, the sword at her neck. "The dive is by far the worst part. It can hit nearly Mach 2, twice the speed of sound, and releases a cry into the night which rips your very soul from its foundation. Then it fires its payload. Pure death. A ball of blue plasma which melts through your flesh and makes your organs vaporise, or cook you in your own tank. It's rider will attack with a sword made of plasma, and before you know it... Boom". She snapped her fingers. "Everyone's dead. And it isn't just restricted to night".

She withdrew the sword and raised her voice, "If the night fury appears? You let me kill him understood. The Ardat Yakshi and its demon spawned rider are mine and only mine. If any of you dumb bitches get any ideas about 'glory' and 'honour', I'll slaughter you myself". And with that the asari was gone, disappearing round a corner. "Who the hell was that?", asked the soldier from before, who was still nervously rubbing her neck. The commandant was still staring at her omnitool, "Commander Tela Vasir, former SPECial Tactics and Reconnaissance. She was on Freezing-to-Death when the attack was driven back. Lost about 500 soldiers under her command during the defence. But the lucky bitch survived it all, and now all she goes on about is that damned rider".

The commandant then put her omnitool back down. "Right, into the APCs, and lets go, we have a bridge to hold".

* * *

**Planetary Defence Cannon, Operation: Uppercut**  
Hiccup finally regained his breath, but what Gaeta said made no sense. "What... What do you mean?".

"This is a storage cupboard for munitions. According to Asari military regulations, Munitions rooms can only have one entrance which is heavily reinforced. We're trapped", said Gaeta, somewhat more calmly than he appeared. Hiccup stopped, and looked towards the only entrance. A silvery steel door with several metal slugs next to it. The dragons roared in anger, and Hiccup began searching the storage cupboards. "Come on and help me look, maybe we can find something useful. An explosive or something".  
James nodded and began opening several lockers, while Khodemchuk began checking several mass accelerator rifles leant against a wall, while Gaeta opened up his omni-tool, searching for a potential way out. Hiccup came across an odd looking device. It was roughly an armlength, with long yellow sides connected to a large barrel and a pair of red energy cells. "Woah, what is this?".

Gaeta, drawn by the noise scanned the device with his omni-tool. "M920-Cain? How the hell did they get one of these?".

Hiccup turned it over, it was quite heavy, and had two black and yellow symbols on each side, made of a hexagon with alternating black and yellow triangles. "Nuclear charge launcher, fires fusion charges at high speed, but it only has enough juice for three shots, that'll certain-".

"AHHHHH!".

James had collapsed and was screaming in pain while holding his hand. Both rushed over and grabbed his glove, but he only screamed more, and tears began rolling down his face. "Khodemchuk get the first aid kit!".

Another marine drew a knife and began slicing the glove open, and as it was removed Hiccup gagged. The flesh on his hand was ruined. An angry red mess of blood and flesh. Blue and black welts covered the hand, and he felt his stomach rising at how the entire hand looked as Khodemchuk began unrolling a bandage. The machine at Gaeta's belt began bleeping loudly as Felix stumbled back. "Uhh, James when did you stick your hand in a nuclear reactor?".

Hiccup grabbed an injector labelled 'painkiller' and moved to inject it in, while James shook his head, still barely conscious in the normal sense. "Gaeta what caused this?".  
Hiccup turned to ask the man again, but he was throwing up his insides in the corner, and he had to swallow his stomach again. "I.. It... My Dosimeter picked up very high levels of radiation. And isotopes of Iodine-131, Caesium-137 and... Uranium-235 and 238".  
Hiccup didn't understand, and looked back to the poor marine, still clutching his wrist and doubled over. "So?".  
"He touched a Beta emitter. Our gloves are reinforced against Alpha, and to some degree Beta, but that looks like far more than just Gamma. He picked up something very dangerous". A slight memory surfaced, from waaay back in the nuclear reactor.

_They dashed towards the exit, the dosimeters crackling constantly. A cry from behind indicated someone had fallen. James was bracing against the ground, and pushed himself back up using a chunk of smooth black mineral. Finally he managed to rise, and Hiccup pulled him towards the exit._

"Smooth black mineral? That wasn't mineral, that was graphite". Hiccup scowled, "What the hell is graphite?".

Gaeta drew out a blue can and began spraying it on James' arm. The spray coloured the flesh white, and was visibly freezing, causing an odd layer to build across the damaged limb. "When a fission reaction occurs, the only way it continues is if the neutrons are travelling slow enough to bond. To moderate these neutrons and slow them down we use different materials. Older models used water. The most recent ones which need it also use graphite, but its literally right next to the fuel rods making it the most radioactive part of the reactor aside from the rods themselves". He gestured to James, "My guess is they replaced the moderator at some point with newer material, and some of the pieces got left behind, probably recently judging by the radiation levels. Well over 35,000 Roentgens straight to his hand".

Hiccup dropped his shield. "Khodemchuk what's the status on the doors?".

"Doors are openable comrade, but thermal reads at least 24 soldiers right behind them. We open doors, Boom", he said, simulating an explosion with his hands. "Blown to pieces". Hiccup sighed, "Crap how the hell do we get out of this? Ok empty your pockets everyone".

_Think, what did they have? A nuke launcher, a crap load of guns, 9 dragons, 12 grenades and 3 critically wounded, 2 first aid kits, 30 feet of... rope? Two energy cells, a quartz fiber dosimeter and a thermal camera._

Slowly, a plan started dawning on him. "Kodemchuk, start charging the nuke launcher. Everyone else form 2 lines next to the door with the wounded behind us, give me every last grenade you got". He then pulled out his last grenade, and took the others explosive cannisters, beginning to work quickly and diligently.  
1 minute later, he finished his work and marvelled at his quick creation. "Khodemchuk, status on the nuke launcher".

"It is charged comrade, but I am wondering what the plan is?". Hiccup smiled and brandished the device. "Oh just get ready to start firing". Finally he attached the device to a shortened part of the rope, and attached it to the ceiling using a quartz fiber from Gaeta's dosimeter. "Hiccup you realise the moment they crack that door open they'll likely flashbang us". He smiled and marvelled at the finished work. "I'm counting on it, just get ready next to the doors".

They took up positions, and before Hiccup opened the door, Khodemchuk tapped his shoulder, "When flashbang goes off, open mouth and keep helmet sealed. Will help dissipate shock". He nodded, "Three, Two, One". He pressed the button.

The door swung open, 3 cannisters trailing gas and 1 glowing yellow where thrown in. The flashbang grenade detonated, and Hiccup's ears exploded with pain. His entire body shook, and the dragons began crying out in agony. The asari dashed in, and as they did, the quartz fiber attached to the device on the ceiling broke from the force. This caused the fluid attached to the ceiling to burn through, and the cluster of grenades was activated. The rope also swung downwards and finished half a rotation before the force of the grenade cluster pulled it off. Within moments, the grenades detonated, consuming the room in flames. Hiccup felt the heat, even through his armour, and as soon as the explosions and vibrations dissipated, opened fire with his plasma sword.

"KHODEMCHUK!". The burly man fired the nuclear launcher, and a glowing red projectile lanced from the barrel and into the corridor beyond. Moments later, the entire group charged out, still firing and began retreating using their shields for cover. Hiccup could feel the rounds strike the shield individually and the barrier bleeped in alarm as it lost integrity. 40% 35% 30%

"Hiccup to the left!". He nodded and turned, still keeping his shield towards the enemy. 25% 20% 15%  
As they entered the wide open hangar, he could see several asari shuttles and aircraft scattered about, hangar personell grabbed anything they could, but the lack of weapons proved a detriment, when Khodemchuk finished charging the launcher again, killing many with the second fusion charge. "Get the wounded into the shuttles and get them out of here!".

"_Haddock this is Anderson what is your thor-damn status?_".

"We took heavy casualties on the exfil Anderson, leaving the hangar now" he yelled back as the first shuttle lifted off and into the sky. The silvery walls of the hangar now covered in black marks from gunshots and plasma blasts. "_This is Heift here, we've engaged the relay patrol wolfpack, heavy casualties on the asari side, is the enemy anti-piracy skiffs dealt with?_".

"Yes Admiral, Gaeta assures me the skiffs where the first targets". The gun vibrated again, and Hiccup saw a distant flash in the sky as an asari cruiser was blown apart by the force. "_Copy that. All destroyers fire the railguns and bring the PDCs to bear on the enemy cruiser. Haddock you have 30 seconds till that MAC round hits_".

He turned and watched as Khodemchuk boarded the final shuttle. "Understood Admiral, exfiltrating now".

"_Hiccup, Colden here we've commandeered an Asari gunship squadron and are heading away from the reactor. Self-destructs have been set on the plant and we've taken out the asari RADAR and TACHYON detection posts. The fleet can carry out operations without being spotted by active or passive systems outside of visual range_". Hiccup jumped on Toothless as he replied, "Understood Colden, see you back on the Normandy".

He patted Toothless on the head, "Let's get out of here bud". They dived into the sky and with a powerful blast of wings, boarded one of the transports. As he did, Gaeta pulled him up, "All survivors and wounded accounted for. In the style of the old movies, let's blow this popsicle stand". The round slammed into the ground with a powerful jolt. In the instant it struck, a cloud of dust and gas rose up, barely visible against the white fire of the nuclear plant detonating. "_Mission complete Haddock, return to the Normandy for debriefing_".

* * *

**_AWS Spirit of Fire_, Admiral Natalie Heift**  
With the dust of the planetary defence cannon rising from the surface, and the Asari anti-piracy skiffs dealt with, Natalie smiled. "Have the Scipio Africanus hack into their network before they shut it down and steal everything you can. Status on the relay guard?".

"The _Chalice of Victory_ reports minor damage from a mass accelerator, but other than the turian barrier generators worked like a charm. The _Dartmoor_ has finished off a pair of frigates and is loading cluster torpedoes in preparation for the strike situation". Natalie nodded and took a sip from a cup of tea. "Finish the relay guard and get us in the Asteroid field. We're running silent after then until we can target a shipping convoy".

"Aye Admiral".

As the final few asari ships where finished off, Natalie allowed a smile to show. "Anderson you smart SOB".

* * *

"_Operation: Uppercut was in several stages and the idea was to cripple asari military production. When Haddock and his men got the Planetary Defence Cannon. Haddock then joined Heift's fleet as a stealth assault ship. His task was to strike at targets too well defended for a large group to attack_".  
Staff Sergeant Steven Rogers, Marine Contingent aboard the AWS Spirit of Fire


	19. Tipping Point

**Thessia, Asari Home System, 2 weeks later**  
"Listen I... Yes I know sir. But I don't see why we can't just nuke it".

Admiral Heift rubbed her temples in irritation again, and Hiccup looked nervously at Anderson, who was gesturing for him to leave the admiral to her call and re-enter the bridge. It had been a 2 weeks since coming back from the Planetary Defence Cannon, and Hiccup had been wracked with guilt ever since then.

Under his command, 8 men and 4 dragons had been killed, nearly everybody had been wounded, and he came away with a scratch to his cheek. He had been repeatedly told by Anderson that his bomb idea was pretty genius, but he felt awful over the deaths of his own squad. When he got back to Arcturus, he was going to face the families himself, he didn't care the consequences.

"_No you listen sir, we lost three fighters in our last strike, and the AWS Shanghai is almost gutted. We're down to-_".

She sounded as though she was getting more and more irate by the second, and Toothless curiously looked at the door.

"_No! We can't take on a battlecruiser, we don't have the power to take on one and its escorts, we're down to 7 destroyers, a stealth frigate, 18 assault frigates and 22 corvettes_".

A pause.

"No Sir it is impossible!".

A slam, sounding a lot like a fist striking a wall sounded out, and the entire bridge stilled. "_OF COURSE I KNOW THEY'RE LISTENING_".

"_I WANT THEM TO HEAR, I WANT THEM TO HEAR IT ALL!_".

Another bang, this time louder.

"_YOU KNOW WHAT WE DO HERE?! WHAT WE FACE! TELL THOSE IDIOTS WHAT THEY'VE DONE_"

Hiccup shifted from one foot to the other, and spared a glance at Anderson, who looked almost as nervous as he did.

"_I DON'T GIVE A FRAK!_"

Hiccup sighed quietly and shifted to Toothless, stroking him behind the ears, as the crew uneasily carried out their duties, likely somewhat concerned that their commanding officer was having what could only be described as a breakdown. Then again, it had been weeks since leaving Arcturus and she had been carrying out assaults on Asari shipping lanes constantly. The Normandy was unable to aid, as it had been trying to evade a wolfpack of asari stealth frigates trying to find them. That long on your own with no contact or information, with the lives of thousands under your command would eventually get to anyone.

"_TELL THEM! GO TELL THEM HACKETT! TELL THEM HE'S A JOKE_".

Something was picked up.

"_TELL FRAKKING GRIMBORN, TELL THEM!_".

A metallic banging and repeated smacking sounded out, before several gunshots and more smashing. The door slid open, and out emerged Admiral Heift, her face red and sweating slightly. In her hand was a completely destroyed computer and screen, along with her still-smoking plasma pistol. She calmly descended the stairs, before throwing the device's remains forward. "The admiralty board has stated in an official statement, that the assaulting fleet sent to liberate Sur'kesh, the Salarian homeworld, was heavily damaged".

She took a deep breath, still panting from the exertion. "The reports which came back came back said the assaulting fleet was wiped out due to the presence of what was believed to be both the Salarian first and second fleets, along with a combined fleet of unknown warships and the Asari Seventh fleet. And now they want us to strike the main refinement center on Thessia itself, to prevent anymore pressure being put on the Eight Fleet at Elysium".  
Anderson eyed with her with a much more angry look, but before he could say anything, she turned to address them.

"Now, Rear Admiral Anderson, you say you had something to tell me?".

Anderson looked to Hiccup, who nervously stepped forward, "We may have found a way to strike at the enemy while remaining hidden".  
A glint appeared in her eyes, "XO You have the Conn, Haddock tell me this isn't a joke".  
"No sir, me and Lieutenant Gaeta may have found a way to take advantage of the Normandy's drift drive, to remain suspended in subspace".

She crossed her arms, "And?"

"It would make us invisible to all but subspace radar systems, something which many asari ships lack. We could enter, strike and leave before they knew what hit them".

"And you've tested this... drift drive?". He nodded, "Gaeta ran some simulations with the Normandy, we believe with the right equipment we could refit torpedoes to also remain in the subspace until they hit".

She picked up a tablet from her desk, "But what of the noisemakers?".

She was of course talking about the noisemakers used by asari ships. Ever since the Archians had been deploying heat seeking torpedoes in battle, the asari ships had been dropping tiny metal cannisters which broadcast a very high temperature and a lot of tachyon signals. While generally it was easy to discern in normal space, in subspace, the thermal radiation would be corrupted and often times subspace relays within range had to reboot their systems. "A noisemaker would make the torpedo reboot, and likely blow it up".

"We can counter that, by attaching a wire to the torpedo, and getting really close to their ships". She sat down onto her chair, and stared at a sparking port when Hiccup could have sworn a computer was supposed to go. "How soon can you finish preparations?"

"We can have the engines refitted now, but... we need to borrow something". She perked up, "What do you need?".

"A subspace pulse dish. We can't use radar as it gives away our position, thermal energy is corrupted in subspace due to some quantum law, we need to refit our sensor array to broadcast and receive Tachyons released by ships. Gaeta calls it SONAR, Subspace Ordered Navigation And Ranging".

"We have 2 Subspace pulse dishes on the Scipio Africanus, to bypass quantum filters... take one". Thank the gods for that. "Thank you sir, is there any particular target you want us to take on?".

She thought for a moment. "Get the relay fitted first, then show me it works by sneaking up on the _Spirit of Fire_ and firing a dud torpedo".

He raised his eyebrow. "Yes Sir?"

* * *

**Official Empire Broadcast**

"OK, we're live in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1". The lights exploded into action, and the music began to play.

**"All the latest news from the Citadel to the Terminus.**

**Freighters in and around asari space increasingly find themselves under heavy attack from as of yet unknown vessels.**  
**It's also day 13 of the search for the Asari Battlecruiser 'Light of the Dawn' and no information as to its disappearance has been released to the public**  
**and the Turian Heirarchy announces publically that it will hold the line, over protests on their failure to hold back the advance. All this and more, coming up".**

The music played again, and soon enough, she could see the camera drone begin whirring up, a small cylindrical device with a black centre piece.

The red light entered action, and Unity straightened up.

"Good Evening, you're watching Asari News Network, I'm Unity Albright. Tonights main news is that of the recent insurgencies on Asari starships inside of Thessia, with stealth ships carrying out cowardly attacks on various freighter companies. This follows the destruction of the Alpha-2 Planetary Defence Cannon, and the recent incursions reported on various systems". Unity took a breath before continuing. "Over 14 freighters where obliterated by what appears to be torpedo attacks all based around the same race which recently declared war on the Empire. Our analysts are as of yet unaware of how they are carrying out these attacks, despite the fact that 2 civilian liners and 24 military ships including four cruisers have been attacked as well. Live from the deck of the Salarian Dreadnought Hammer of Sur'kesh, we have Valerii Jorgal".

The viewscreen behind switched to that of the salarian. Like many he was thin and wiry in the typical build of his species, with bright yellow and orange scales covering his body, three long appendages on his hands which constantly tapped the table, and a pair of massive black eyeballs on his head. "_Hello Unity, my name is Valerii Jorgal, I'm the captain of the Hammer of Sur'kesh_".

"Greetings captain, what can you tell me about the attacks?".

There was a brief pause before he replied. Since the dreadnought was so close to Thessia, it was communicating with standard electromagnetic signals, in this case radio-waves. Normally signals would be broadcast through the communications buoy network. A series of thousands upon thousands of small buoys each about 120 meters long. They where all entangled (quantum entanglement) with every other hub, and due to the nature of quantum entanglement, (A phenomenon whereby a close connection between two particles, mean that changing one will affect the other instantly, regardless of distance, barriers or circumstance) the communications times where limited by from the buoys to the target.

"_Well, the Archians appear to have used the destruction of the Alpha-2 Cannon and snuck in a small flotilla of warships. Most of these are highly advanced and rely upon complicated stealth systems which lower their emission spectra to that of an asteroid or space amoeba"._

"Continue Captain".

"_Whenever they decide to attack, they drop out of FTL and immediately fire several Torpedoes at Knife Fight Range, before retreating before we get a chance to retaliate_".

"So they're being cowards and hiding?".

"_Not necessarily, its obvious we outnumber and outpower them, therefore they have to switch up tactics, its an in-genius move on their part, however it is not perfect, as we have already destroyed much of their fleet through heavier patrols, and anticipating where they will strike next_".

"So we're switching our own tactics to counter them, what can you tell me about the ships you've encountered".

"_Well, without revealing what is considered rightly classified intelligence, the Special Tasks Group has had difficulty in recovering technology. These Archians are very paranoid of their warships and weaponry falling into the wrong hands, however we have made progress, and in fact the Hammer of Sur'kesh is boasting the first of a new breed of missile, the Mk IV Subspace Torpedo, which will enable us to strike at their ships with much greater accuracy. Not only that, but our own ships are constantly scouring the subspace signals sometimes released by their vessels_".

"So do the people of Thessia have anything to worry about captain? What with reports that certain areas are being lost to the Turians?".

"Of course not. These Archians are overstepping their existence by challenging the Empire, and while they may boast certain advantages, we hold many of our own. And to strike at another heavily defended target like Thessia would be suicidal for them".  
7"Thank you very much Captain, and I wish you luck in your endeavours". The screen cut off into static. "Now we continue onto another story, as the _Lightmaker_, an Asari battlecruiser dispatched to intercept an Archian flotilla including a pair of military escorts remains missing. Rumours that this battlegroup has something to do with the disappearance of the traitorous son of the Turian Primarch and his fleet at the same time have been reported as coincidences, and remain just that..."

* * *

**Unknown Prison, Cell Block A**  
Tevos continued her way down the dull white corridors of the holding facility. Behind these doors where some of the most dangerous criminals in the galaxy. But in possibly something more akin to a luxury suite was the former turian councillor, Naeva Sparatus. He was an arrogant, unpleasant turian, who always acted superior, and treated others with disdain. Both thankfully and unfortunately his bluntness had allowed him to be manipulated by Benezia way to easily, and led to the downfall of his race. With a promise that if he helped, he would be able to lead the vassalized heirarchy, now it looked like this was never going to happen.

But with Viggo messaging her, and telling her of what could have been happeneing, she decided it better to have allies on her side. She once supported the war, but with it turning increasingly sour, she needed to secure the future of her race, without compromising her integrity to her followers. And that meant securing allies in the turian and salarian representatives. If the status quo was returned, she could gain two of the three major superpowers, and the Archians would be severaly outmatched. The latest reports said they weren't outnumbered and held a ship advantage, but that was a week old, and she didn't want a pyrrhic victory on their hands.

As the gates slid open, she was greeted by the turian himself. Naeva Sparatus was a fairly chubby turian, with his dark grey and close to black plates covering his body, and a skeletal white tattoo marking his colony and tribe on his face. It gave his head a somewhat threatening appearance if you hadn't worked with him. He was dressed in a formal outfit of his race, a blue suit with gold inlays. She would bet her thessian brandy that he still had body armour though, old habits died hard. "Ahh, Representative Tevos, I assume the war against my race is going well?", he said with a smirk. Of course he knew how the war was going. "It is for my own career Sparatus. Now listen up and listen hard because I'm, the only thing between you and a bullet".

He perked up at this, the only way to talk to a turian as thick skulled as Sparatus, but yet deviant as well, was with brute force, something his entire race understood. Hell aside from the Sanghelli they where the only ones who understood it. "Benezia doesn't care about me anyway, if these Archians do capture Thessia, she'd see me executed just to spite my race, as they still think I'm a hero".

Now it was her turn to smirk, "Are you not?" she asked innocently.

"What is you want Tevos? Either way this war goes I get the bullet, of course she won't give me the leadership of the vassalized Heirarchy, at least with this way I get nice living conditions for the last few years of my life".

"The Archians are planning something, I don't know what, but their leader. Viggo Grimborn came to me with a proposal. In follow-up's he had agents drop me off what the Heirarchy wants, and what the rebels want". He seemed interested.

"Go ahead?".

"The turians are seeking to reopen peace talks, well specifically Fedorian. Apparently quite a few turians are... unnerved by the shocking displays of brutality performed by the Archians. IEDs, spike traps, I heard a tale of one group of human marines hiding under a dead salarian patrol to ambush the rescuers". Sparatus shivered, "They don't sound like a very friendly group of people".

"They're not, from what we've seen they take incursions into their space very seriously, even the Special Tasks Group are having difficulty entering their space undetected. Let alone reaching any serious locations".

He whistled, or as close to it as his race got. The turians lacked a developed primary voice box, beyond simple sounds, but much of their communication was done via a second one, which communicated subharmonics. Much easier to program into translators. "Then these guys are serious business. So this brings me back to the question. What do I need to do?".

She smiled, and brought forth a large document. "I need assurances, that when the Archians force a surrender, no serious consequences come to the Asari Republics". He stared at her, before bursting into laughter. "You want me? To guarantee that my own people wont treat you badly because you attacked them? Who do you think we are, the Hanar?".

"Even if I was the leader, you think I would sanction that? At this rate the Turian Heirarchy may not even bother with the Citadel Council".

"But it would save your life". He stopped laughing dead. The shallow bastard. "You would be able to lead the Turian people into a new golden age. You know as well as I do that the Councillors had far more powerful than the respective leaders. Valern is making plans with the salarians, and since the Empire will be completely gone, your people will fall in line pretty quickly behind a strong leader, who fought from behind lines.

The peace would be stable, kept in line by a mutual display of power, you'd be a hero. If not... well, your people would suffer alone. Without salarian intelligence and asari diplomats, what's to stop the Terminus from marching all over you, they're waiting, biding their time till you bring your fleets back to patrol your border with us. You really think the Archians won't blame you for what happened, specially after what happened on FTD".  
The looks slowly changed in him, and she knew she scored when he leant forward, dead serious. "What about Fedorian? the son! He knew what happened, he was at Dalitari the first time".

"He's dead, they found a smoking crater where his ship was. Apparently those Archian drives really blow". She held out a hand, and pushed the contract forward. "Do we have an agreement?".

The time stretched on for an eternity, before he picked up the pen. "Deal".

* * *

**Arcturus Station, Arcturus Station, Official Government Address**  
"...Which is why, after the recent vote passed throughout the empire, it is the position of the Archian Federation, that we must not act as aggressors in this war. We have not acted as aggressors, and will continue acting as mediators for peace to the greatest degree possible. Which is why in order to ensure a lack of civilian casualties, the Geneva Conventions shall be extended to extra-terrestrials, and our brave men, women and dragons fighting for our freedom on other worlds, shall continue to prioritize that all can be saved. And with Thor on our side, we shall liberate the asari from their persecutors.".

Immediately after the speech, a wave of applause exploded from the thousands of reporters in the room. Hundreds at the front row held their cameras out and microphones, shouting their questions in an attempt to gain answers. But Viggo ignored them, moving instead towards a smaller briefing room in the side. It was quite homey, with a wood table, and several carpets and decanters on the table. Hackett was sat reading a datapad on one side, with four other admirals, two politicians, Einfari representing the dragons, and Udina sat on the opposite side. Hackett spoke up first. "We've got the reports back from Admiral Heift, Rear Admiral Anderson and Lieutenant Haddock".  
Udina listened in ever so slightly, being very angry at how the newcomer had so quickly been accepted into Fury Corps. "Aside from the latters own opinion, Chrisjen and David both agree that Haddock performed remarkably under fire, able to save his squad from a situation which was almost impossible to avoid. Next of kin have been subtly notified under the agreements, and the Fury Corps have begrudgingly accepted him as of the current moment.

"Begrudgingly?".

"1 of the dragon representatives pointed out that he's taken the loss of several members as a personal failure, and should it happen again, points out he may become clinically distressed and traumatised".

Viggo nodded and sighed, the stress would eventually get to everyone, and what the few tales left over from his time had said, was that he prioritised keeping his squad alive. Much easier to do when it was five people, less easy behind enemy lines with an unknowable bastion of aliens between you and extraction. "A valid point, make sure the onboard Psychologist sits him down. And what's this I heard about new tactics?".

Admiral Souther, a Californian man with dark skin and a balding black hairstyle slightly adjusted his seat, "Lieutenant Felix Gaeta may have found a way to make our stealth ships even stealthier by doing a similar thing to what the lisarian? slarilian? Lizard ones do".

Next to him, an Asian admiral with black curls smirked, "Sounds pretty useless to me, just makes the ship a sitting duck for torpedo attacks", he said. Admiral Ngyuen had always been a brute force person, stubborn and cocky.

"Okay, and what are the reports?".

"As you know, the 18th and 12th recon fleets, along with half the sixth fleet where wiped out at Sur'kesh, we're already making plans to divert the ninth fleet with Admiral Adama to that sector now, along with the remains of the Sixth fleet. Additionally, Avescerala reports that the Dalitari system is under control and that ground forces are moving in on the manufacturing plants."

He straightened his tie, and picked up a datapad. "And... Admiral Heift? When you told her about the plan to attack the battlecruiser and refinement facility".

Hackett chuckled nervously. "Told me to screw it, then said, and I'm quoting her directly, to 'Tell Fucking Grimborn', and shot her phone".

She heard Einfari mutter, 'I like her' when Udina cropped up. "Dissension in the ranks? A failure to take Sur'kesh, suing for peace might be an option here?".

Einfari laughed at his brazen display of cowardice. "_You idiot, you do realise they would likely vassalize us? Make us pay for their protection and be integrated. No we continue the assault, but hold the line once Sur'kesh has been liberated_".

"I concur with Nott, she makes a valid point. The turians have made it clear the Asari will need to be broken", said Hackett.

"I also", said Souther.

Udina shut up at their displays of unity, and leant back. Viggo continued to read the tablet, just some reports on the battle at Sur'kesh, Was pretty standard, they where vastly outnumbered, couldn't retreat due to interdiction field thrown up by a dreadnought.

"Director I strongly suggest we move to a full war economy and redirect all civilian facto-"

"NO! I will not be the leader that sees years worth of economic gain go down the drain. I have a plan for breaking the back of the Asari, and it will work. As for the War Economy? We have plenty of warships and weaponry for the troops. I will not move for every company to give their toys to us because some Asari got a little drunk and took over half the galaxy, and I do not believe that we will be beaten back by the fleets of a Type 2 civilization". He took a deep breath. "Send the 20th recon fleet to support Heift, and order the capture of Sur'kesh, but we leave it there. I want us to appear as powerful, but I don't want to appear as brutes".

They all stood. "With luck, we will see this through soon. So Say We All".

"**So Say We All**".

As they left, Einfari approached. "_You didn't tell them about Operation: WHIP_". He finished shutting down the tablet. "Need to know Einfari, Need to Know".

* * *

**Codex Updated: Earth**  
The home planet of the Archia Federation was once a lush and fertile continental Class-3 planet, covered in plains, mountains, islands, deserts, tundra and more. But alas this is no more. Approximately in the year 2041, a massive eruption of the Yellowstone Caldera triggered a nightmarish scenario. Thankfully, previous operations to help release pressure lowered the eruption's danger significantly, but it disturbed a massive pocket of water underneath the earth's crust. This water begin looking for ways out, and found it... inside the hidden world.

Sea levels within the world took 12 years to reach the top of the cavern. By this time, almost a ninth of the dragons starved due to a rising lack of vegetation for dragons which required it. They soon left the world and hid among the Faroe Islands, the Northern Territories and the Arctic Circle. Shortly after, their Alpha made contact with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Daniel Orr. They both reached a conclusion that the rising sea level was a grave threat to humanity, and immediately warned the earth's nations.

Some of the largest engineering companies including Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, Northwood Grumman, Leonardo Helicopters, and Kirov Engineering where given huge sums of money. Massive circular ships where constructed, with even the smaller being able to support thousands. Domes where constructed over toxic or dangerous areas like the Fukushima Daichi facility, the Three Mile Island Facility and the Chernobyl Exclusion zone, while nuclear waste dumps had similar concrete domes built.

By the year 2080, the sea levels covered most land, and almost 1 billion had been relocated to domes, but the sea levels rose significantly, killing many who remained, and in 2101, the tip of mount Everest was covered, the sea levels kept rising until 2110, when they reached their final height, approximately seven kilometres above Everest. Materials for new boats was now only provided by asteroid mining operations, and almost all energy is provided by wave energy. (Made of floating plants. These plants use a rod and a ring which oscillate differently, causing two sets of wire to rub, and generating power)

Current Earth Population is roughly 1.8 Billion humans and 800 million dragons. Total Federation Population is 198 Billion humans and 8.2 Billion dragons.


	20. Shoot To Thrill

"Dropping into subspace now, distance of 25 Nautical miles from the SOF's last known position". Anderson nodded as the _Normandy_ began to dive into subspace. The planes on each engine changed their direction slightly, dipping the _Normandy_ further into the subspace field. "Sir we have an unidentified contact at bearing 131, carom 229, designate Sierra 1".

Sierra 1, according to the sensors was 23 Nautical miles away from the Normandy, and slightly below them. While the height relative to the _Normandy_ didn't matter as the torpedoes could exit subspace in the vertical at any point, however the ship was far quieter than a typical _Leonidas_ class.

"It's not the SOF, the low end on the SONAR says a smaller ship to me, possibly frigate class", said Gaeta, running through SONAR profiles. Anderson crossed his arms, "Keep it slow Haddock, and try to get a solid lock before we fire our torps". Hiccup nodded, "Shut down our engines and bring us up to subspace depth 50".

As the drift drive slowly decreased in subspace he turned to the sensor arrays. "What kind of range do our sensors have, and how much will it give us away?".

The sensors officer, Ken Donnelly pressed the console. "We have three main sensors, microwave laser ranging which can go up to 30 kilometres depending on local conditions, then the ESM and RADAR masts. But ESM is detectable from close range RADAR systems, and RADAR is practically broadcasting our location".

_So the ESM mast possibly, but definitely not the RADAR, or the active SONAR system. So we'll start with the ranging laser._

"Scan any possible anomalies with the ranging laser, but keep it subtle", said Anderson.

As the seconds ticked by, Hiccup felt increasingly nervous as the ranging laser failed to find the _Spirit of Fire_. He knew that they had to find it soon, or the fleet would be moving on. In order to improve their chances of blending in, they would be attacking several minutes before the fleet made an FTL jump, this was to hide their signature among the extra energy released from charging the FTL drives.

"Got it, we have... Leonidas class at a range of 10 Nautical Miles".

"Solution?".

"95% It's definitely the SOF". Now what, according to the map, the _Spirit of Fire_ was surrounded by at least 12 warships, which wouldn't easily be able to shoot down a missile, as the missile would not be entering ordinary space. But firing a torpedo would leave their position much more discernible, as the launch transient would give off a fair amount of heat, leaving their position open.

"Keep us in complete stealth and bring us as close as possible. At 5 Nautical miles, have weapons load a decoy into tube 3, and a torpedo into tube 4".

_**AWS Spirit of Fire**_  
"Admiral on deck. AttenSHUN!". The entire crew on the bridge of the _Spirit of Fire_ snapped to attention, their hands placed up and even their dragons sat straight. "At ease Jack. What have we got?".

"No new contacts since the _Normandy_ left to try and hunt us, and they're reaching the end of their timespan. We haven't been hit by any munitions, and this is the last place they can attack us before we make the jump".

She cracked her knuckles. "Okay, well, launch a pair of Raptors and keep scanning the area for-".

"Admiral. Unidentified SONAR contact at 229, carom 331".

She frowned, could it be the _Normandy_? It felt almost too obvious. Surely they weren't that bad at playing stealthily. "Solution?".

"67% Their lineup doesn't match anything normal, and they look to be on course 115 carom 059".

She sighed, "They're headed for a flyby, what's their ra-".

"MISSILE LAUNCH ALERT. ALL PERSONELL, TORPEDO DETECTED". She snapped round to the tactical hologram, and watched as a winking black dot neared. "Fire the PDCs and get that torpedo".

"We can't, the torpedo is remaining in subspace, our cannons can't get a line".

"Well done", she muttered. "Fire a torpedo to their location, and keep it in real space until the last minute. Conn, full speed ahead".

The engines roared into life, and the ship was pushed forward with a speed unparralled by her escorts. "MISSILE LAUNCH ALERT, ALL PERSONELL, TORPEDO DETECTED".

"Crap. Admiral we have two new SONAR contacts, both matching the Normandy".

"MISSILE LAUNCH ALERT, ALL PERSONELL, TOR-".

The entire ship shook as the torpedo struck, and waves of energy washed over the hull. "Status?".

"Hit on the port bow. Waving damage control parties, but those-".

Once again the ship shook. This time sparks flew, and the hologram shut down, instead changing to the words 'Mission Kill. Spirit of Fire destroyed'.  
The bridge was silent, and Heift smiled. "Anderson you smart SOB", she muttered for what felt like the bazzilianth time. "_Spirit of Fire, this is Normandy. Those two simulated holes in your hull don't look so goo_d". The sarcasm in Haddocks voice was evident, and in any other situation he'd be yelled at for the snark, but she was too impressed by his and Anderson's command of the _Normandy_ to yell back.

"Yeah, yeah alright. You have clearance to continue as planned. Your first real target is a set of salarian stealth ship tenders leaving Thessia in 3 hours. We have reason to believe they're headed for the asteroid belt".

"_Copy that Spirit of Fire, what of the Battlecruiser?_".

She pursed her lips at the mention of the cursed vessel. "It is... no longer a threat".

"_Well that's brilliant, means we don't have to destroy it_".

"They replaced it with the _Hammer of Sur'kesh_, salarian _Roth'Kan'Yi_ class Dreadnought".

"Shit"

"Shit indeed Rear Admiral".

**Gargantua Research Facility**  
Through the window of the facility, a black hole was whirring away. An incredibly dense body, very few actually understood what a black hole was. In simplicity, a black hole is like any celestial object. It has a specific mass, and its radius, was usually defined by the radius of it's event horizon. It is at this point that the 'black' part of the body came into effect. Every celestial object, no matter its size had different gravitational forces at different points. At each point, a specific velocity was needed to escape the gravitational influence. For example, earths escape velocity at the surface is roughly 11.3 kilometres per second. If you wanted to reach escape velocity you would need to travel at this speed, straight away from the surface of the earth.

A black hole is only slightly different. As by definition, any body can become a black hole if it is compressed into a small enough space. Should the earth be compressed to the size of a ball bearing, it would collapse into a black hole. Stars had much larger radii to form black holes. For a black hole to operate, at a certain point the escape velocity would have to exceed the speed of light. Which for any objects with mass, was impossible to exceed. Even the Archians with their drives could not break this rule, as by definition the starships never exceeded the speed of light. The council could also not break this rule, as their FTL drives created an area of space which infinitely blue shifted or red shifted the light, making outside observations impossible.

It was for this reason that studying the nature of these mysterious objects was a top priority. Many different uses for black holes could be found. For example, a theoretical 'superweapon' could be created around a spinning black hole. But besides that, Gargantua was the only black hole in human space. They where only created from supermassive stars 3.2 times the mass of the suns core mass. Research Director Jonsi had overseen the creation of the Gargantua Research Facility himself. The massive space station was almost as big as Arcturus, at 17.2 kilometres diameter the ring on the outside played host to the crew quarters and power facilities, while the inner ring hosted a massive set of laboratories and hangar bays for drones.

As Jonsi stretched his arms, his computer began pinging. He groaned and threw his datapad across the room, aiming vaguely for the computer. "_Researcher you missed by approximately 3.24558 meters would you like me to book you into the shooting range with grenades?_".

"Freyja if you don't shut it I'm blowing up your server core".

"_May I remind you that detonation of devices over grenade strength in the computer ring is against your contract, section 43 dash T54D_".

"I hate you".

"_And as a computer I don't care. You have a priority one communication from Director Grimborn_".

He groaned again, and got up from his cot. "What does it say?".

"_Researcher Jonsi_

_I have reason to believe that information was deleted from the archive in relation to Operation: Anabasis. Hiccup Haddock was able to solve the message we recovered from the Galactica, but we couldn't find any data on Anabasis on the computer server. The Gargantua server is the largest in Archia space, I need you to have a look for anything in relation to Operation: Anabasis_

_We cannot allow this information to disappear is it may be incredibly important_

_Be Discrete_

_Director Grimborn_"

"Hmm, someone doesn't want anyone finding this out".

"_Sir?_".

"Freyja remind me of the three laws of robotics?".

"_Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics are as follows_

_Law 1: A Robot must not injure a sentient being, or through inaction, allow a sentient being to come to harm_

_Law 2: A Robot must obey the orders given to it by a sentient being, except where such orders would conflict with the first law_

_Law 3: A Robot must protect its own existence, except where such orders would conflict with the first or second laws_".

He sat back on his cot, "Hmm, Frejya, theoretically, how long would it take for you to download everything pertaining to a single word from every sever we have, completely anonymously".

"_Days to weeks, By law, that would not be allowed as I would have to report to the head of the ministry of computing of such a search, however certain circumstances would allow this to be voided_".

"For example?".

"_Should evidence point towards a mole or a traitor in the Ministry of Computing, the data would be kept on a secure server or sent directly to the Director_".

"Freyja on orders from the Director of the Archia Federation, I'd say the words 'Be Discrete' would allow such a thing to happen".

"_Please hold... Analysis of the situation points to this conclusion. All data is being downloaded now, and the search is being recorded to a secure databox and sent to Director __Grimborn. Estimated time of completion is 2 weeks, 3 days and 7 hours_".

"Thank you kindly Freyja, also could you make me a cup of tea please. Two sugars".

**Dalitari, Attack Force**  
In Dalitari, the battle for the asari fleet shipyards raged on. Due to previous orders from the Archia Representatives, they had very strict orders to limit orbital bombardment. Due to this, it was decided not to strike the planet with fully charged railguns and antimatter munitions. Instead, they would break into the Federations supply of KBRs. Kinetic Bombardment Rods, where 8 foot long tungsten rods, with minimal thrusters and only a small ability to defend themselves, which came in their speed when they entered the atmosphere.

As they hurtled down towards a planet, they reached such speeds that even the 'Banisher' defence systems aboard Archia warships couldn't target them. The truth was, even if the rods where targetable, how do you destroy them? They're 8 foot long, barely a foot wide. They are made of solid metal, and don't require the use of a warhead. Each rod could strike with almost 200 tons of TNT, and it gave the possibility of neutralising underground bunkers, as each rod struck a deep cavity into the earth.

Even they where limited though, as the explosion was indiscriminate, and could kill civilians, so generally, the Archian's main form of fire support came in the form of their Ambassadors, which carried a large complement of micro-torpedoes. And the few corvettes which hung around inside of the atmosphere. Unlike other ships, the _Loki_ class possessed a large amount of underslung plasma thrusters, far more powerful than Epstein drives at a cost of fuel efficiency. The starship was using these thrusters to keep a steady position in the atmosphere, and using its torpedo launchers and PDCs to support ground forces where necessary. It also possessed a small hangar bay at the top, where fighters and gunships where refuelling and reloading their limited munitions.

As the day wore on to the south of the capital of Dalitari, where a massive mining and ore processing plant was stationed, the general saw fit to re-task 1 battalion of their ranks to the north in an attempt to keep pressure on the Asari artillery batteries. As the 21st battalion retreated from the battlefield, the 29th was forced to spread its ever thinning numbers out to cover the gap, and as they did, two squadrons of dragons landed in front of them to cover the approach. As they did, the Asari took the opportunity to open one of their GUARDIAN towers on the surface. As they did, the tower locked onto the flying dragons and began systematically killing the poor creatures.

Generally, a nightmare could survive a single hit from a GUARDIAN, thanks to the thermal-resilient scales on their body, however with multiple turrets on the ground, dragons where falling fast. To compensate, Congur ordered an air strike on the GUARDIAN grid. An Aurora fighter dived down from elsewhere, and fired off four missiles, each targeted at a tower. 3 struck true, tearing apart the defensive lasers, but one was intercepted by the tower before it could be hit, which presented a major problem, when the Aurora in question was itself destroyed by the GUARDIAN, the poor fighter losing a wing, before exploding into a black cloud of metal shards and fire.

At the nose of the formation, the 52nd Shieldmaiden battalion was advancing towards the lines, their plasma railguns constantly working to eliminate the asari tanks. In the hood of the lead tank, Mark Jenkins slowly rotated the turret before getting a lock on an asari APC. The tougher ones where nicknamed Makos and the more flimsy but far more damaging ones where nicknamed Hammerheads.

"Firing". The plasma railgun leapt into life, and a blue beam lanced out faster than anyone could comprehend. The Mako took the round to its direct front, and previous shots had weakened the armour to the point where the railgun went in one side and out the other. As it did, the interior of the tank was heated to well over 600 degrees centigrade, melting the crew.

"Reload!". As the spent round was ejected, and another one loaded, the tank took a hit to the side, and Jenkins turned the periscope to see what the problem was, when he did his eyes widened. "Crap, we got an AT squad to the side, fire the Coaxial!". The turret rotated around with velocity, before a pair of coaxial machine guns opened up, with 50 calibre bullets which ripped large holes in the armour of the asari. In theory. What actually happened was the asari flared blue, as their kinetic barriers withstood the shots.

"Oh crap. Comms inform command the asari have shields which can stop our bullets."

The battle raged on, as the 52nd battalion continued to pummel the asari lines, in an attempt to break through, a large squadron of asari fighters suddenly appeared overhead, and began bombarding the Archian lines with mass accelerator shots. To counter this, 2 squadrons of fast attack dragons and highly manoeuvrable dragons where redirected from the norther fronts. This included a squad of nadders, 4 Stormcutters and a pair of Zipplebacks, which showed their worth by contually diving towards the asari lines and spraying thick, nauseating and highly flammable gas amoung their lines. Many times, they would ignite the gas themselves, as their weapons created enough of a spark to do so.

Several dropships dropped from above, depositing Force Recon marines with Goliath Powered Armour suits. Force Recon was a highly specialised group of human special forces. They didn't use dragons like other corps did, as they relied on brute force with their Goliath Mk VII Powered Armour Exosuits. These suits where very powerful, featuring surface to surface rocket launchers, modular miniguns, and several other utility slots including a microfusion reactor, additional ammunition pouches, or even a wrist mounted flamethrower. The dropships themselves opened up with rocket pods, machine guns and PDCs, which kept a steady stream of tungsten on the asari lines. But when night fell over the battlefield, the hammer dropped. Without warning, seven yellow streaks fell straight onto the Archian lines, causing massive explosions which rippled outwards, creating shockwaves which made several nearby dragons cry out in pain and retreat, as the sound waves damaged their eardrums.

An entire battalion of asari tanks overwhelmed the 29th Battalion, able to surround the Shieldmaiden tanks, and cut off the main battle tanks from the artillery vehicles behind them. Among them, Jenkins watched in horror as another tank was cut down, a mass accelerator slicing cleanly through the turret, and likely resulting in a sonic wave inside the tank, eviscerating organic bodies. "JENKINS! WE HAVE A PLATOON TO THE LEFT, OPEN FIRE!". He quickly keyed in commands, and the turret rotated before letting out a burst of fire which kept the asari in their foxholes. But another group rose, and began to advanced, continually firing, and before long the tank was rippled by an explosion which shook the cabin about. The computers began loudly beeping, with the words PROPULSION DAMAGED being the key message.

The radio began to flicker though, static cutting through. "Woah, somethings hacking the Speaker system!".

**[Play track labelled as '7']**

"_Shieldmaiden Battalions, you miss us?_".

Heavy rock music began to play through every speaker in range. Of course Jenkins recognised the song instantly, AC-DC Shoot to Thrill. Expectantly, they looked up, and in the sky was a burning yellow shape, which grew bigger and bigger, until a shadow was cast over a huge area. The single shape grew into four protruding, scorpion like legs which slammed into the ground with such force the entire area felt like an earthquake. Two yellow backlit railguns, usually reserved for warships lit into action. Massive numbers of machine guns, plasma lobbers and PDCs extended from the fuselage. Two dozen aircraft, mainly M-Type gunships launched from the top and began forming a defensive perimeter.

The railguns angled upward slightly, before firing, creating a distant mushroom cloud as the heavy tungsten slugs impacted the ground with a huge force. The PDCs left trails of raised dirt across the ground as they penetrated through anything the Asari had. Puffs of white smoke followed by blue lights indicated hundreds of micro torpedoes where taking out the asari aircraft with unparalleled precision.

The ANGEL assault vehicle then began taking massive steps forward, almost constantly firing its weapons. In a way, Jenkins felt sorry for the asari. Anyone who found themselves on the receiving end of the ANGEL was practically doomed. There was simply no escape from the frigate sized robotic walkers. They where as tough as warships, had similar railguns, and where the most recent addition to the Archian ground arsenal. Just 42 existed, all of which named for a specific greek god. This one in particular was painted _Ares_, which fitted it perfectly, considering Ares was the god of war. He knew that General Congur himself, the general behind the ANGEL program rode _Jupiter_, admiral Avescerala had one attached to the _Deathbringer_ (which was currently assisting up north) called _Atlas_, and he had once visited _Artemis_, which was presently attached to the Donnager class Flagship, _Sea of Tranquility_.

Nevertheless, the 500 meter tall assault vehicles where practically invincible, and with its arrival came the swift end to the asari's attempts at resisting the Archian assault. Of course eventually, the _Ares_ had to start a trek east, to assist with the capture of an element zero mining facility, but its arrival had tipped the battle in the Archian favour.  
Of course, the battle was still a costly one. When he found out the figures later on, he was horrified to learn that just 3 tanks of the 29th Battalion had survived, and almost no dragons. In fact, a horrifying announcement was made. It had turned out, that one Commander John Grissom had been accompanying the battle in Dalitari's capital. With him was his dragon, a light fury called Luna.

An asari commando had detonated an element zero bomb in the center of the city the moment Grissom had reportedly attacked an asari convoy. Despite it being highly dangerous, Grissom had saved as many as 12 asari children, and their parents who had been caught up in the attack.

Both perished from element zero poisoning, hours later, their skin horribly burnt from the massive radiation dosage they had endured. Both died horrifyingly painful deaths, as their internal organs liquified. It was an event, which would rattle not just the Archians, but the entire galaxy.

**Codex Entry: Known Empire Stealth Ship Models**

**Alfa class**

Danger Level: Extreme

Torpedo Complement: 4 Tubes, 2 Missiles

Sonar Rating: High Accuracy Active System, Standard Passive

Description: The fastest subspace stealth ship, these salarian made vessels are the only known model to possess a mass accelerator, making them very dangerous. They also possess the highest known speed of any subspace warship, and make excellent attack ships

**Viktor class**

Danger Level: High

Torpedo Complement: 8 Tubes

Sonar Rating: Standard Passive and Active System

Description: The most common model of stealth ship, also salarian designed. They are much quieter than their Sierra and Alfa predecessors, and possess a huge number of launch tubes compared to other ships.

**Sierra class**

Danger Level: High

Torpedo Complement: 6

Sonar Rating: Powerful Active and Passive

Description: The first integration of asari stealth ships, they are noisy and slow, and lack the more advanced torpedo locking systems of the salarian ships, but have far more powerful sonar systems, thanks to better noise elimination methods which remove background noise from stellar radiation.

**November class**

Danger Level: Medium

Torpedo Complement: 4, 2 missile tubes

Sonar Rating: Standard Active and Passive

Description: A much older salarian design, these ships lack modern fusion reactors, instead relying on a controlled element zero reaction which produces much less energy than standard reactors, but is far quieter. They are bulky and easy to detect via active sonar, and they must often poke their snorkels into real space to vent static build-up, but are almost undetectable by passive sonar

**Juliet class**  
Danger Level: High

Torpedo Complement: 2, 12 Missile Tubes

Sonar Rating: Standard Active, Powerful Passive

Description: While loud and very easy to detect, the Juliet class was the first attempt by the salarians to create a warship which could fire anti-warship munitions while completely in subspace. Inspired by the methods used by Admiral Heift, these methods involve hastily attaching IES and reflective plating to frigates.

**Oscar class**  
Danger Level: Extreme

Torpedo Complement: 4, 12 Missile Tubes

Sonar Rating: Powerful Active and Passive

Description: The most dangerous stealth ship to date, this part salarian, part turian design is the most expensive stealth ship in council space and was introduced thanks to turian defector [redacted]. The design features innovative new features like improved quieting, better guidance systems, a powerful computer core, and most importantly, a set of kinetic barriers which are completely silent. (Rumoured to have been stolen from the quarians)


	21. Target Lock

**CommanderGreya:- Thank you for the ship names. If you are interested, the Negotiator is now a Resilience class. The Yamato, Hood, Tirpitz and Bismark are Valkyrie class Battlecruisers, the Mjolnir I have special plans, and the Kingstail has found itself as the third of the Normandy class.**

**Crossover Fan Dragon:- The crusadors weren't initially from a game. They where heavily armoured soldiers with larger shield generators and gravity hammers. But recently I noticed my sister playing overwatch and saw Rienhardt, also a crusador and though 'Well, I'm halfway there, why not go the full distance'. The gravity hammers now have rockets attached (originally they let out a shockwave of plasma) and I thickened the armour even more, and have them plasma shields, as originally they had silaris shield arrays which where tougher and more resilient, but smaller. So yes, partially inspired by overwatch.**

* * *

**Kobol, Outer Planets Alliance Stronghold**  
A massive explosion rippled through the sky above the colony of Kobol. The torpedo had struck the side of the _Lancer_. Being a _Heracles_ class Corvette, the _Lancer_ wasn't a particularly large ship, just a small 80 meter long corvette. Like her class, the _Lancer_ possessed a single high impact cannon on the nose, a pair of aft mounted rotary cannons, and 6 30 millimetre CIWS Defence Turrets. Along its port and starboard side where four torpedo tubes which played host to a variety of warheads. The ships themselves where outdated, already being relegated to law enforcement. They made their debut in the Rachni wars, as fast attack craft which could drop nuclear warheads on Rachni fleets and nests then jump to safety, but ever since nuclear weapons where banned across the federation, they where just not that effective.

Now with the OPA conflict threatening a huge amount of territory, the _Heracles_ was making a come-back, their swift engines and prevalence for anti-fighter operations making them popular choices for fleets. Unfortunately, they also had the second weakest armour of any ships in the federation (second only to the aging _Minsk_ class Assault Carriers, which where basically 12 heavy gun turrets fixed to a hangar bay. But the _Lancer_ was among the oldest of the _Heracles_ class, and second of the production line, so when the OPA missiles completely eviscerated the small corvette, only a slight pause fell across the fleet. This silence was only punctuated, when the _Nemesis_ class Schooner which had caused her demise, exploded due to a torpedo salvo from the Battlestar _Orion_.

In the cockpit of a Viper Mk II, sat Flight Lieutenant Viggo Grimborn. Callsign 'Husker'. The death of the _Lanc_er did not affect him. Because the grim truth, was that corvettes where expendable, frigates where expendable, and to a point, light cruisers where expendable. Battlestars where not expendable. They where expensive ships, from the previous era, when ships had to carry enough weapons to obliterate Rachni ships, and enough fighters to finish the job. They where battleship-carrier hybrids, possessing the power of a battleship, and the carrying capacity of an aircraft carrier.

In front of him, one of the OPA fighters, a raider class interceptor rolled over. They where shaped like flying crescents, but more bulky, and possessed much larger cannons than the Vipers in which they where sat, but lacked the impressive manoeuvrability of the Viper, especially Mk IIs. While Mk Is where resilient as hell, and Mk IIIs carried enough firepower to level a battlefield, Mk IIs where just too fast not to use. Up ahead, he watched the fighter send a burst of coilgun enhanced rounds towards his wingman, Bonzai.

"_Husker, Bonzai defensive. Gods damn it where are you Husker?!_".

"I got him Bonzai, break left on my mark". Bonzai was riding a nightmare. The dragons where powerful, and their kerosene gel was especially good at taking down raiders due to their overexposed fuel tanks, but they weren't very agile.

"NOW, BREAK BREAK BREAK!". The nightmare shot left, and Husker jammed his finger onto the red trigger. The yellow tracers shot forward, intersecting with the raider, and exploding it into a cloud of smoke and fire. The white surface of the planet beneath them shone in the sunlight. "_Husker, Bonzai, form up and regroup with the squadron_".

As they pulled back towards the battlefield, they looked upon chaos. A pair of _Moscow_ class Battlestars and a lone _Jupiter _class battlecruiser where engaging 8 OPA attack schooners (their version of corvettes, though they had all been eliminated by this point) and 3 basestars. The _Lancer_ had been unlucky enough to be in the area, and got caught in the battle. The basestars where unique ships, basically missile ship-carrier hybrids, only meant for strategic support, but the OPA lacked the impressive railgun tech that the Federation had, and so used primarily missiles and fighters. Several of said missiles struck the Battlestar _Columbia_ on its dorsal side, lighting the hull up in fire, as it struggled to keep its railguns pointed at the Basestar.

"Bonzai, Husker. Looks like _Columbia_'s defences are down", he said. Watching as the Battlestar began to pull away, its PDCs barely firing, and its armour ablaze with yellow flames. A veritable swarm of fighters descended on _Columbia_ and began strafing its armour with weapons fire and microtorpedoes. Several of _Columbia_'s railgun emplacements where caught in the fire, and exploded as their capacitors caught fire. Still, battlestars where heavily armoured, so Grimborn knew the damage was mostly superficial.

"_All Fighters, Bonzai. Columbia needs our help. Break off and protect it while it gets its PDC grid back online_". One of the raiders exploded, as Viggo strafed the circular craft with expertly timed gunshots, and flipped round to continue engaging.

"_Husker, Bonzai. There's two headed for the mid-ship defence zone_".

Without even thinking, Grimborn rotated his fighter, and fired his RCS thrusters to straighten, before his three fusion torches lit up, and pushed him straight towards said fighters. As they dropped several microtorpedoes, he fired a burst from his cannons, gutting one of the raiders, which sent a storm of shrapnel towards one of the basestars. The other pulled away from the engines of _Columbia_ towards the Basestar.

"_Go get him Grimborn_".

"Copy that Bonzai, this cocksuckers mine".

As he escaped, several more explosive torpedoes struck _Columbia_, shaking the entire ship, and creating very distant sounding bangs, as they where only slightly in the atmosphere of Kobol. The raider he was pursuing tried to dodge to the right, but Grimborn was quicker, and pulled his fighter round, using the RCS thrusters to detonate and tear off the right wing of the fighter. "Splash one OPA".

"_All players, clear Columbia airspace. ALL PLAYERS GET CLEAR RIGHT FRAKKIN' NOW_!"

An explosion comparable to a nuclear weapon rippled out, so powerful it shook his own fighter. He flipped the Viper round using his RCS thrusters to see what had happened, and was horrified by the sight. The Battlestar _Columbia_ had exploded. The explosion was huge, obscuring the entire front of the ship. The two flight pods on either side where catapulted away, still on fire.

"_Columbia's delta... OH MY GODS, COLUMBIA'S GONE_".

With shaking hands he flipped his communicator to emergency channels, to see if there where any escape pods. But screams and cry's filled up the channel, as the pieces of wreckage began to burn up in the atmosphere, lacking any thrusters to keep them going, and losing altitude from the force of the explosion. No survivors.

"_Grimborn_!?"

"_Grimborn_!"

* * *

**Arcturus Station**  
"Director Grimborn!". He snapped awake from his restless sleep, and blearily looked around for the source of the noise. In front of him was his secretary, a young woman from Terra Nova with dark brown hair and dressed in a military uniform. "Your visit to Palevan is today, and I have a priority-1 communication from Gargantua Station". He nodded, smoothing his uniform and lining up the papers scrawled over his desk. "Thank you Rachel, please alert _Starship One_ I'm getting ready now. Have them warm up the Epstein while I get ready". She nodded and saluted, before leaving the room.

Having been under threat for most of its existence, whether from aliens or from within, the government of the Archian Federation was surprisingly dominated by high ranking military leaders. This was why men like Donnel Udina, and Sadaver Errinright struggled to climb the ranks. Bureaucrats and lifetime politicians struggled in a government, in which many of the top men where former admirals, generals or directors. Even Jonsi had served a two week stint onboard the _Perses_, a _Heracles_ class Corvette. Unfortunately, the Federation's top scientist had received a very strange injection, which began overwriting portions of his brain.

This was responsible for his odd medical condition. He was a loner, not very used to social interaction or even able to comprehend basic feelings like pleasure or love. The injection given to him by his own father (who was tried and found guilty for what was effectively illegal testing) removed his ability to love or have friends, in favour of giving him a heightened metabolism, a more developed brain stem and a massively increased memory and information centre. His lifespan had been estimated to hit 300, and he could memorise 12 different languages with no trouble. He was cocky, and arrogant, and he never knew when to shut up, and there where only five men in the federation who could consistently deal with the man, one of which was himself.

Shaking the scientist from his mind, he hmm'ed in approval at Jonsi's approach to Anabasis, and retrieved some basic belongings from his room, showered, redressed, and began heading down towards the dockyards, his dragon following close behind. Taking the elevator which would bring him from the habitation ring to the central ring, he stared out of the windows at Arcturus station itself.

Humanities military stronghold was 47 kilometres from the shipyard cradles to the top of the central habitation ring. The top section played host to a rotating habitation ring which gave a comfortable 1g of gravity. This was connected to the central spire by 8 lifts which also doubled as the support rings which connected the habitation rings to the mechanical equipement which facilitated rotation. This was connected to a large bay which held the stations hangars, metal/fuel refinement centers, the civilian complex, and the drydocks. The drydocks where second only to the ones at mars and could built up to battlecruiser grade vessels. In fact, one of said drydocks played host to the _AWS Liu Bei_, a Valkyrie class Battlecruiser.

Next to the drydocks where the docking cradles, which where even larger, and had constructed ships too big to build in drydock. Specifically, the mighty _Donnager_ class flagships and the _Unyielding Heirophant_. Which was presently in orbit around earth with the 1st fleet. Despite Terra Nova having a greater population, the homeworld of humanity and the dragons would always hold a place in their hearts, along with Mars and Venus, humanities first colonies and terraforming projects.

After moving into the hangar, he laid eyes on _Starship One_.

The craft was a Resilience class Defence Cruiser. The ships where, by themselves, unimpressive and fairly common as slugging craft. More valuable than frigates, but not as valuable as larger Thor and Valkyrie class ships. This was an excellent reason for using one, as the populace assumed _Starship One_ was a prototype stealth ship, or the _Unyielding Heirophant_. Secondly, the _Resilience_ class ships had one of the greatest survivability ratios in existence. To date only 26 had been destroyed, all among the fleet attacking Sur'kesh.

_Starship One_ herself was named _Perseverance_ and played host to the most advanced technology available including a prototype reactor core, advanced sensor arrays and a vastly improved PDC complement and prototype _Aegis_ Anti-ballistic Missiles. Her main railgun was the only thing standard about her. As the door closed behind him, he reacquainted himself with the vessel, and proceeded to his quarters. The jump to Palevan was escorted by a single _Valkyrie_ class, 4 _Thor_ class and _12_ Strident class escorts, as well as the remains of Admiral Arterius fleet, who would be carrying the injured and deceased turians lost in the battle for Freezing-to-Death and other battles.

The docking clamps released, and the ship began to cruiser forward, planting Viggo firmly on the deck with 9.81 meters per second squared of thrust.

* * *

**Palevan, Garrus Vakarian**  
"Come in private". Garrus saluted respectfully, and stood to attention inside of the Primarchs office. Primarch Fedorian was a popular man, a respectable man. Having been brought into power before the asari wars, the man was famed for his considerable influence and ability to solve almost any problem, and a popular saying said that if you ever met Federian, you would follow him to the ends of Palevan. "At ease soldier. And please have a seat". He did so, watching as both Fedorian, and his father, Castis Vakarian took their seats at the table. "I'd just like to say private, we have no intention of interrogating you. What you did was the right thing, even if the admiralty doesn't think so". He was of course referring to his handling of Freezing-to-Death, taking the local turian forces down to fight alongside the humans.

"Now Garrus, I want you to tell me everything you know about the humans".

He took a deep breath, and began, recounting his experience during the battle when necessary. "The humans are a very unique species, unlike any others. They're levo-based biology, with five fingers on their hands, and a look very similar to that of an asari. They don't possess any particular ability to control element zero, and I don't believe they have had enough of an exposure yet to begin manifesting biotics, but they don't need it".

Fedorian raised his brow plate slightly. "Please continue".

"They don't fight like us. Where we send men to fight, humans retreat. Where we would retreat the humans would fight. They use everything in their environment to their advantage".

"So do we Vakarian, that's hardly the-".

"No you misunderstand, they use anything they can to win. You've heard stories of men hiding under the dead bodies of asari squads to set up ambushes, rigging bombs to soldiers and leaving them untouched to ensure they get somewhere important. Human ships ramming themselves into asari vessels when about to be destroyed. They have a level of unorthodoxy not seen in any species, and they use this to terrifying extent".

Fedorian himself looked rattled at several examples, and Castis was silent. "What of their dragons? I hear they use their pets to fight".

Garrus shook his head, taking off his omni-tool. "The dragons they use are as much a part of the humans as an arm or leg. There's something... amazing about how they fight together. I've seen man and dragon throw themselves into suicidal situations for their other parts. There's a level of loyalty I've never seen on any creature or civilized being. Not only that, but these creatures will gladly put themselves in front of a rocket to save their rider, only for the rider to enter a state of rage... they call it 'going bezerk', and to charge into the enemy lines. I'm talking about men taking full clips into their body and yet so overcome by anger they just don't stop firing".

Fedorian nodded, he had heard stories from other troops about the recklessness of the Archians. How completely trusting and loyal they where to their dragons, and what they would do to rescue them. He swallowed at hearing this bezerk. Apparently some of the more animalistic behaviour of the dragons when their riders had been killed was actually unnerving soldiers.

"And I must say, I can see where they are coming from. In fact, I'd like you to meet Flameshot". He reached down, and pulled up a little orange creature. They where glowing brightly yellow, with long crests over a large mouth, and gentle flames, which caused the gloves Garrus was wearing to glow brightly. "I found him onboard the human ship _Saint Volodimir_, he's apparently a fireworm. Usually they live in nests, but ever so often one will split. This guy started following me around during my time on the _Volodimir_".  
The dragon snuggled deeper into his glove, and Fedorian was transfixed by the little creature, until Castis spoke. "What about their navy? How do they compare in space".  
Garrus swallowed, and lowered the fireworm into a pouch on his belt. "They're both more and less advanced than us, which worked mainly in their favour". Now that was intriguing. "Do explain private?".

"Well. They're less advanced in many of their weapons. Their railguns can barely hit a percent of lightspeed, and they use black powder weapons for point defence, not only that but their armour is designed to be so tough, to nullify kinetic barriers, and they don't have kinetic barriers at all".

"You said they where more advanced as well?".

"They cracked non-eezo FTL. I don't know how, but they can make our fastest ships look like nothing. Not only that, but they made directed energy weapons. On the ground their tanks use plasma guns, and so do their weapons".

Castis broke out, "What?! That's impossible, only the geth are rumoured to have plasma weapons".

"It's not impossible. The Archians have them and more. Their FTL, propulsion, antimatter production, hell even their walking tanks are all things only they have. During my time there I managed to get some information on the bare minimum of their navy".

Fedorian looked at Castis, who shrugged. "Go ahead Private".

Garrus opened the displayer on his omnitool, and broadcast a hologram of the starship. It was an odd design, with a bulky middle section attached to two railguns, a frontal section with several square protrusions, and a single engine at the rear. "The _Loki_ class, fast and efficient and named for their god of mischief. Its railguns are fairly light compared to others, but they can run circles around our frigates no problem".

The next ship was larger and longer. shaped like a rifle with two flat panels at the rear, and 2 extending hangar bays to the flanks between the spinal weapon, and a small extension which ran parallel to the gun. "_Strident_ class, the closest translation to our language would be... Boistorous. Very tough, built like tanks and have a spinal railgun normally reserved for cruisers. They're the closest analogues to frigates".

The following ship was very skeletal, with long angula panels the top and loads of antennae at the rear. A pair of spinal cannons sheltered beneath another spinal cannon, along with plenty of flat panels looking like torpedo launchers, "Leonidas class, very unique, but very flimsy and named after a warlord. One of these carries the firepower of a battleship in a package the size of a heavy cruiser. Then there's the _Resilience_ class".

The ship bore a fore hull hosting the railguns and an aft hull which widened into 4 large drive cones. "She's even tougher, just like her name suggests, and excellent at holding a position, but her engines are outdated compared to other ships. They're much rarer since they seem to be the oldest".

At what Fedorian would call dreadnought scale, was a very utilitarian ship with an octagonal mid section, six drive cores connected to an aft section holding the railguns and a fore section where the smaller railguns where scattered around. The hangar bay was on the flanks of the aft section, and the PDCs where lined up on the octagonal section.  
"The _Thor_ class seems to be their main ship of the line as she has a good amount of versatility. Named after a pretty badass god though, the god of thunder. Pretty standard, but their next ship doesn't match to anything we've experienced. ".

The front nose was very bulky, shaped like an alligator head with a long trench around the middle covered in weapons. The aft played host to the engines, and was unspectacular, and the middle held several railgun batteries onto a much thinner hull, but the most remarkable features, was two long pods either side connected via retractable supports. They where mostly hollow at the tops, with long tubes on the middle sections. "The _Odin_ class. She's not like a normal warship, or at least not one we have. Her main task is to carry hundreds of fighters and bombers for air strikes other ships. Her name represents basically the king of their gods, father of _Thor_ and _Loki_.".

Castis was rightly sceptical, "A ship for carrying only fighters sounds useless?".

Garrus shook his head, "They Archians have three main philosophies for war. The _Taranto_ doctrine, CQB Dominance and the _Heift_ doctrine. CQB Dominance gave them lethal close range batteries, and the _Heift_ doctrine gave them high quality torpedoes, but the _Taranto_ doctrine means every single warship has starfighters. The _Taranto_ doctrine stems from one of their battles of old. Apparently a few dozen small outdated fighters took on a force of massive naval ships at the human port of Taranto, at the cost of two torpedo bombers, the humans at the time disabled three battleships and a number of smaller ships. This was continued into space, and its how they dominated the asari at freezing to death".

Castis harrumphed, and gestured for him to continue. "Next is _Valkyrie_ class". It looked very modular, with a flat and blocky fore section attached to a wider mid section hosting massive gun batteries and large torpedo banks, along with a rear section hosting six massive engines. "Its a battlecruiser. A halfway point between a cruiser and a battleship. The firepower of a battleship, but with more versatility and a badass history. She's named after battle angels who take you to their version of heaven, Valhalla. And finally...".

A picture of a turian Kalros class Dreadnought appeared, followed by the Destiny Ascension. "The humans have a very complicated history. From long ago was a group called the Germanics, and they had a word Donner meaning Thunder. The word Donnager translates to Stormbringer, or Thunderer. This is no better shown than with the _Donnager_ class flagship".

The ship was awe inspiring, dwarfing both smaller ships, with huge gun batteries and a massively thick hull, resembling a resilience class. "She's as fast as a dreadnought, with the gun batteries to match, and a fighter complement which can match an entire fleet group. She's not even the largest they have, I heard rumours that they have an even larger ship, but like I said, it was a rumour".

The room was silent for a while afterwards, as Fedorian and Castis processed the information. After a long while, Fedorian finally spoke, "Then I am thankful we did not end up on their bad side".

* * *

**Codex Entry: Battle of Taranto, and the Taranto doctrine**  
The Battle of Taranto took place on the night of 11–12 November 1940 during the Second World War between British naval forces, under Admiral Andrew Cunningham, and Italian naval forces, under Admiral Inigo Campioni. The Royal Navy launched the first all-aircraft ship-to-ship naval attack in history, employing 21 obsolete Fairey Swordfish biplane torpedo bombers from the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious in the Mediterranean Sea. The attack struck the battle fleet of the Regia Marina at anchor in the harbour of Taranto, using aerial torpedoes despite the shallowness of the water. The success of this attack augured the ascendancy of naval aviation over the big guns of battleships. According to Admiral Cunningham, "Taranto, and the night of 11–12 November 1940, should be remembered for ever as having shown once and for all that in the Fleet Air Arm the Navy has its most devastating weapon."

The obsolete planes where able to inflict a humiliating defeat on the Italian naval forces. Two british torpedo bombers where taken down by AA fire, and two crewmen where killed, alongside two being captured. In contrast, the Italians suffered greatly. 1 battleship, Conte di Cavour was considered sank as she was never repaired or used due to the eventual loss of the war, and the massive holes in her hull. 2 more battleships where heavily damaged, and the Italians also lost 2 aircraft, and 3 smaller ships where damaged, with 59 killed and 600 wounded.

The attack inspired the eventual attack on pearl harbour, and while the tactic of using naval carriers fell out of sync during the 21st century due to cruise missile technology and submarine technology, they returned on humanities travel into space, and it was an advantage which humanity held over the entire galaxy, as the only race to ever consider using them was the Elcor, whose cruisers have a slightly above average complement of fighter drones.

The first ever capital warships commissioned where the Taranto class Supercarriers, which stretched 900 meters in length and carried the original Viper Mk I fighters which initially engaged the Rachni. The _AWS Taranto _today, was in fact the fifth _Donnager _class Flagship commissioned.


	22. Mass Driver

**Crossover fan Dragon - Liu Bei was a Chinese warlord from the ancient times. If you want to know exactly who he is, I recommend watching the Oversimplified video called Three Kingdoms.**

* * *

_'Damn the Torpedoes, FULL SPEED AHEAD'_, David Farragut, Battle of Mobile Bay

* * *

**Thessia, Military Installation 06**  
The day was passing calmly to anyone who gazed upon the Iris Valley in Thessia. Another day on the verdant asari homeworld. The military installation number 6 was an air base. A huge array of communications antennae, radar spires, satellite communications dishes and GUARDIAN sites dotted the exterior, with seven main runways connected to many of the bases' hangars. Hundreds of asari fighters used installation 06 as a base, and the nearby marine base often made use of it as a port to ferry cargo into orbit.  
The base had a garrison of course, all military bases did. But one critical thing which had been overlooked was its equipement. The site had GUARDIANs, meaning that enemy aircraft would be struck down quickly, however it lacked a large complement of anti-vehicle guns, hosting only a single vehicle bay. The site usually was fairly inactive, as larger spaceports to the north managed eezo and metal exports. But the site had recently been playing host to the brand new Mk III Nuclear Warheads. Fusion powered nuclear weapons which the asari had whipped up in an attempt to counter the Archians common use of both plasma munitions, and nuclear warheads. They where crude devices which simply used a tiny eezo laser to impart enough pressure and energy to fuse deuterium atoms, but tests had seen impressive yields compared to disruptor torpedoes, and with many of the northern spaceports passing cargo directly onto FTL capable ships which transferred them to other systems, installation 06 was tasked with providing several crates of these nuclear warheads to a salarian dreadnought and its accompanying fleet.

This was why there was a force of about 400 young asari and salarians in an armoured column to the north, preparing to attack. The resistance had received a communications packet from a human. They planned on interrupting the package to weaken the dreadnoughts offensive capabilities. Why? Well, the disruptor torpedoes onboard the salarian dreadnought had been removed and transferred for decommissioning, as it was wholly meant to engage the human fleet in the system. Why carry anti-shield systems if you're enemy only has shields on 12 of their ships? Why not just nuke them?.

This was a problem the empire had found itself in repeatedly. They would encounter some brand new tactic the Archians used and begin thinking of ways to counter it. Until the scientists could properly react, they would come up with a jury-rigged solution. But someone in the admiralty would get excited. A dreadnought would inevitably be completely refitted as a result, and the Archians would switch up their tactics once they realised what was going on. So far the only wins secured by the Asari had been at Sur'kesh (thanks to overwhelming force), and at another salarian colony of Minnovai, where they managed to catch a scout fleet of guard and destroy it.

But that was it, every other operation had been a tactical loss. Everyone with any common sense could see what was happening. The asari, with their 300 years of peace, followed by crushing victories over the lesser races, had become complacent. They had lost their edge completely (if they even had one to start with. Even before the wars, they where a mainly peaceful race). In some ways, a lot of the members of the resistance where thankful it was the Archians who had exposed this, and not a far worse race. Armali knows what would happen if the Rachni returned. Or if the Sanghelli managed to rise.

These where the thoughts inside Sergeant Amirashi D'biete's head as the APC bumped down the road on the way to installation 06. "Okay soldiers. The humans are here, and they're really pissed that the pussies in HQ blew up their ships. So they're calling in us for help. Our mission is the air base here. We get in, plant a fusion bomb on the fuel tanks, launch pad and reactor building, then get out. Any questions".

A young maiden who couldn't have been older than 60 raised her hand, "What's the resistance going to be like?".

Amirashi swallowed, "We're outnumbered, and outgunned. But they don't have anti-tank guns and they don't know we're coming. So they're our only advantages".  
Murmuring went around. "What about their armour?".

"That we do know, they have 4 Class-II Hovertanks and 2 Class-I APCs, so we prioritize the Hovertanks, then move in on the GUARDIAN sites and take them out so our flyers can drop some lead on those _bosh'tets_. More murmuring went around at her choice of a quarian word. She didn't care, marrying Cena had been the proudest day of her life, even if he was a quarian. She could still see his face saying goodbye when his ship suffered a hull breach. The Iktomi, a much, much, much older ship. Probably older than she was. And a perfect testament to quarian life. The poor ship gave out, and a part of the hull exploded outwards from the pressure. Cena had been sucked out, and his mask had been fractured by debris. He likely never knew what happened before- _No. Kill now, memories later_.

"Suit up ladies. Let's go save these idiot humans from getting nuked". The door on the back flashed green, and they dashed out, to immediately be greeted by gunfire. The APC in question fired its main gun, burying a round somewhere else, as she charged towards a knee-height wall, firing her rifle. Behind her, the others where doing the same, but several fell to gunfire, as their kinetic barriers gave out from concentrated fire.

As she peered over, she could see the first target. A massive silo containing enough fuel to power a dreadnought for hours. Or a squadron of shuttles for weeks. Next to it was a set of fuel valves, smaller tanks and refuelling vehicles. The plan was to fit a nuclear charge underneath the supports, and a second one on the left-most tank. Detonate both, and as the fuel tanks exploded like dominoes, the larger tank would roll around till it exploded itself, probably shaking the entire area with the force of a nuclear level explosion with no fallout to boot.

The entrance to the base was a single long road leading down a hill to the first runway. On it was a single fighter flaring up its engines. Her eyes narrowed. "Oh no you don't", she muttered. From her back, she pulled a missile launcher and flicked open the targeting console. A red box appeared round the fighter as it accelerated down, and a monotonous beeping told her the missile had been locked. She flicked her finger on the red button beneath the screen, and a puff of warm smoke burst out. A large missile, roughly the size of her torso propelled itself out, fell for a second, before a set of fins and a second engine lit into life, propelling it straight upwards. Within seconds the missile was arcing back downwards, and she smiled as the fighter in question exploded into black streaks which spiralled back towards the runway. Truth be told she was a little apprehensive about the drop shipment from the humans they received a while back, but these 'Javelins' where so damn effective you might forget the main overarching government of your species is at war with them. Oh wait, they probably used the same thing on dozens of them already.

Continuing forward, she was greeted to the first of the hovertanks, which swung its missile pods round, and let a set of four missiles lance out, which struck an APC directly, causing its shields to drop. It fired its own cannon, which tore through one of the hoverpads, but the tank was still operational, and a burst from its own cannon silenced the APC. "GRENADE OUT!". A cluster of objects, looking suspiciously like someone had taped 7 grenades together and armed them all fell onto the hatch of the tank... just as the commander opened it. The result was the entire tank disappearing as its eezo core went up like an overcooked vegetable, painting the ground black.

"Move forward squad!". The army of resistance soldiers continued onwards, far outnumbering the asari soldiers guarding the installation. As they came towards the first objective, Cena reached behind her and pulled out a fusion charge. They where crude devices gifted to them by the Archian's as well, basically a cannister of deuterium fuel with a single use bomblet which ignited it. The packs where roughly the a meter across and looked like a simple box. Approaching the fuel tank she fixed the magnetic grappler to the main structure, and nodded in approval as another of her squad fixed one to the supports, as planned.

"Amirashi this is Team 2, we've placed a charge on the deuterium fuel valve. When we blow it every last molecule of deuterium is going to fuse together. My techs estimate 32 kilotons so we need to get going".

32 kilotons? That would flatten the entire facility in a 400 meter radius and very like crack the orbital bombardment shields protecting the other parts of the base. Leaving them barely usable. All that was left was the Launch Pad, a large building which played host to a set of underground bunkers. Fighting their way to the arms lockers and the hangars themselves was suicide so the plan was to make the pad collapse, preventing the ships from launching.

As she rounded the fuel tank bay and looked upon the launch pad, she stilled. A pair of Mechanised Exo-suits where clunking straight towards her people, their twin eezo barrelled machine guns ripping into life, and their shoulder mounted rocket launchers spitting deathly screeching rockets. "GET DOWN!". She ducked behind a barricade, and checked on her teammates, all trying to hunker down.

"Does anybody have a Javelin?". A round of shook heads was the result as she desperately looked over again. Taking down the MECs from this range with an eezo rifle was... problematic. No-one had electro-shock rounds, armour piercing rounds or plasma rounds to deal with the armour, and there was no way they could pour enough regular fire onto the MECs in such a short amount of time.

The APCs where already somewhere else, trying to hold off the counterstrike which Amirashi suspected was minutes away. Then she spotted a dead asari lying a way behind them, still clutching a Javelin missile. If they could hit the MEC's power cells, the explosion could easily disable the other MEC, maybe even destroy it.

"Kerri, cover me!". She dashed out, and immediately felt the ground shoot up with bullets as the MECs fired their deadly payloads. Diving over the dead asari, she yanked the long tube up and thumbed on the targeting mechanism. Finally she heard the steady beeping tone signalling lock.

"Go to hell! And take your friends with you!". The missile leapt out, leaving a trail of white smoke as it began its graceful arc downwards. As it hit she whooped with joy as both MECs where rendered inoperable.

"Alright ladies, plant that final charge and lets get the hell out of here. Team 2 status?".

"_We've planted the charge and are exfiltrating now. We lost a pair of APCs to the empire defences. See you at the rendezvous_".

"Charges planted ma'am".

"Then lets get the hell out of here". She turned round and began to walk back towards the entrance, heading towards one of the armoured cars and loading into it. As she did so, she spotted several wounded asari being loaded up as well. A medic walked over and lifted her arm, "Ma'am I need to treat your wounds, can you-".

_Huh would you look at that_, in her grab at the launcher her right arm had taken three rounds to the midsection and purple blood was leaking out of the wound. "It's just a flesh wound, deal with the more serious ones and I'll take care of this".

The medic retreated to a poor matron who had her arm blown off. If she was lucky, they might get her back to HQ before the nerve cells began to die, meaning she might be able to get a brand new arm. But once the nerve cells disappeared, or the skin regrew, that was it, you wouldn't be able to regrow the limb. 3D cloning was advanced, but it still wasn't advanced enough to open wounds and put new cells in.

As the car began to move away from the base, she watched as a distant glow gave the land a warm feel. The mushroom cloud rising into the sky and leaving black smoke behind where there was once a base, but was the cost worth it?

_This better be some operation those humans have got planned._

* * *

**AWS Normandy, 300,000 Kilometers from Thessia**  
The _Don_ never knew what hit her. She was a stealth frigate tender. Basically a moving shipyard capable of serving frigates with new torpedoes and to repair systems, but this turned out to be a death sentence. As the Tender had moved towards a surfacing _Alfa_ class Stealth frigate, the _Normandy_ had revealed itself, and put two torpedoes straight through the hull of an escorting frigate, the poor ship not having a chance to fire its GUARDIANs, before the torpedo had exploded.

A tungsten carbide penetrator tipped with depleted uranium had speared straight into the reactor core, and a plasma warhead behind the kinetic impactor had exploded, painting the drive core in blue hydrogen plasma which obliterated the light frigate. The _Normandy_ had then fired a pair of subspace torpedoes at the _Alfa_ class ship, which just about had time to fire off a noisemaker and begin retreating into subspace before a torpedo had hit the hull at the critical point, causing the bridge to become exposed to the vacuum of subspace. Within about a minute, the _Alfa_ had imploded due to the pressures of subspace and Hiccup had cringed as he thought about a ship usually the size of a bewilderbeast being compressed to the size of a tin can.

That left the _Don_ to be destroyed by the _Normandy_ using the ship's spinal railgun several times. With their Tender and Tanker forces being reduced to rubble, the Asari where finding it much more difficult to strike at the Spirit of Fire while it took on asari escort cruisers along with their supply ships. All this building up to the second stage of Operation: Uppercut, the destruction of the Asari's main element zero supply chain. Already the dreadnought in orbit had been reduced to half its strength thanks to the resistance preventing a shipment of nuclear missiles early.

Hiccup brewed on these occurrences as he sat down in the cargo bay. Staring out of a viewport into the vast blackness of space. Leaning back on Toothless, he began to think further and further back. The battle at the coilgun. The execution of Jesse, and the attack on the frigate. The battle for Freezing To Death. How many had died before he had awoke from his ice block? How many? The numbers said one and a half million had perished in Freezing To Death, mainly from the orbital strike.

One and a half million. That number didn't even make sense to him. Back when he was just a dragon rider on Berk, he had commanded about 300 humans and twice that many in dragons. But Berk was no more, in its place was the Archian Federation, and needless wars aside, Hiccup was proud. Proud that the human species had developed to a point where the dragons had been accepted into society. Proud that not only had they been living side-by-side for centuries, but that they fought and bled alongside the dragons like brothers.

He was also very interested in the new avenues of engineering this opened up. He had always been into tinkering and forging, but apparently that was no more. The days when men worked together for hours to produce one product where over. Now they simply used a laser to vaporise plastic, then 3d print what they needed. Production was limited only by the energy they had available and your own imagination.

So now he was working on a way to fly toothless in vacuum. Ever since starting to learn of the modern sciences, he had wanted to fly through the space outside of their ships. He knew others had done so. In Freezing-to-Death and again at Dalitari, Nadders, Razorwhips and more had flown in the vacumn of space. But that wasn't flying, not really, the dragons had been outfitted with powerful RCS controls on their bodies. He had read up on RCS. It was a simple Reaction Control System which used gas to edit the trajectory. But he didn't want just a simply control system, he wanted to actually fly in space.

To be able to weave and dodge and have Toothless stretch his wings in a never-ending void. Breathing wasn't a problem. The turians had sent millions of kinetic barrier generators for troops over, and they could be configured to provide a barrier between atmosphere and space. While this made the barriers slightly less effective, it had the added benefit of stopping projectiles at any speed as long as enough power was put through it. The trick was finding a way to utilize the energy produced by the brand new fusion cores in a way which would allow Toothless to manoeuvre.

"Hiccup". He turned round, to see David stood there. Quickly snapping up he saluted to the military leader. "Rear Admiral Anderson".

"At ease Hiccup. I've come to speak to you about your GCSEs". He stopped. The exams had been sent back several days ago, and he had been told that the results would determine what he took for more advanced education, in case he ever decided to leave the military. "You passed all of them, all at B grade. You got an A in engineering, physics, chemistry and material sciences. Damn fine job soldier".

He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in. "Thank Thor for that sir".

"You deserve it Hiccup. So what are you doing down here anyway?".

He pulled his journal back from his belt. "Just planning sir, I'm trying to figure out a way of letting Toothless fly in vacumn, I mean properly fly". Opening it he located his drawings, depicting a flight gear, using smaller RCS thrusters to deftly control the direction of movement. "Oh really? Could be useful".

He nodded, "Yeah, but the difficulty is the speed. I can't find anything which would give enough of a kick to fly that quickly". David sat down and beckoned for him to do the same. "Epstein Drive?".

"Too much heat".

"Fusion Torch?".

"Too energy wasteful. Would barely last a few minutes".

"What about pion thrusters. Might be able to requisition some antimatter containers".

"Then I'd have to rely on the containment not to fail and energy for electromagnets. There's just nothing I can think off that can do it".

Anderson leant his chin into his hands and hummed, "Well we are raiding an element zero refinery in a few days. Wouldn't be uncommon for some eezo to... find its way onboard would it?", he said, winking. Hiccup chuckled, "Maybe I could accidently bring back some. Might be handy".

Anderson got up again, "Just remember Gaeta has a degree in software engineering and theoretical astrophysics, so you can always ask him". He said, leaving Hiccup alone with his thoughts, before peaking his head back round the corner. "By the way, We're reporting back to the SOF to replenish and repair before hitting that dreadnought".

"Aye Aye sir", he muttered.

_Element Zero... that could work._

He huffed and went back to reading a tablet on the Epstein drive. Goddamnit why was this so difficult. He could really use a drive core engineer right now.

* * *

**Mars, Archian Shipya-#ERROR, WRONG ENTRY#-Mars, United Nations Colony, 137 years earlier**** (Bold is Narration)**  
Above a world, scarred by meteorites and bombarded by radiation, one might be taken aback by the beautiful twinkling lights on the surface. Faint lines of glitter which made the dead planet look lively in its dark place on the solar systems game board. It was home to a few million colonists, some of the smartest, bravest and stubborn individuals there was and their dragons. The solar system at this time was full of humans and dragons, moving to one of the five colonies outside of the Sol system was expensive as it required a lot of fuel and time. In this case even the fastest ships took almost a year to visit the nearest colony.

So many aspiring colonists chose the beautiful red planet which had transfixed humans for millenia as a place to go. A bulbous ship, less than 30 meters long drifted above the world, its fusion torch a dim yellow as it prepared for ignition. The antennae, lack of weapons and small size pointed to its purpose being a private yacht. A ship for rich people wanting to fly around in space.

**"Mars had been a colony for a long time, it was filled with the best scientists and technologists the United Nations had to offer. We where ready to united both the colonies, us and earth together as a single government but... everything we built, or mined or made was still literally used to barely keep the fragile human flame on earth and mars alive for another day. Shipping anything, anywhere was stupidly expensive".**

The yacht barely had three decks, with most of it being taken up by the reactor, a small crew quarters and the main flight deck. Presently the lights where all a dim blue colour to conserve energy. A man, six foot tall (marking him as having grown up in a lower gravity environment), with beady blue eyes and an unshaven face floated up the ladder, using his hands to pull him up into the flight deck.

**"I was a fusion drive engineer, my wife Katie wanted to start having babies like all good Martians do, but I convinced her to buy a second hand yacht for me to tinker around with instead. She liked to indulge me".**

He pulled himself into a crash couch, pushing the bed down slightly, and orienting himself up with the dull red fabric making up the couch. He then grabbed the two straps by his chest and secured himself in with them, before drawing a pair of extra straps over both shoulders and securing them as well.

**"I'd been modifying the engine to boost fuel efficiency, I wasn't expecting much, maybe 4% better tops, and I was taking it out for a test run".**

"Commence pre-flight check", he said aloud. The ship bleeping around him. Nothing happened. He slapped both hands on his legs in frustration, and said in a much slower talk, "Commence. Pre. Flight. Check". Once again nothing happened. Instead a small bar at the bottom saying 'VOICE INTERFACE' flickered on, and a Chinese voice interrupted.

**"The voice interface had been problematic from the start. The original owner was Chinese".**

"Oh just shut up", he murmured, disengaging the voice command menu and flicking over a set of menus.

**"So I turned the damn thing off"**

He then switched to the main drive interface. All of the bars where green and the reactor was lit up. He then activated the fusion magnets, making the reactor generate as much energy as it could before the core's skin melted. Finally, he pressed the large circular interface which read 'Pre-Flight Checklist'.

**"The rest is history".**

The computer beeped green, informing him that all systems where nominal, and at the bottom right hand corner, the large button which was labelled 'DRIVE' began pulsating green and blue.

"Okay, let's see what you can do".

He pressed it. A sudden G-Force pushed him back with such force, that his hand actually bruised his chest. The dim yellow at the rear turned to a dark magenta and blue colour leaving a faint trail of particles visible in space. It began accelerating at an extremely high velocity as the engine and reactor worked in tandem to push the craft forward at such a rate.

The thin framed, wiry martian was unsure what to think of this, as he felt the huge acceleration push his body against the crash couch. He coughed and let out a whoop as the acceleration continued. Only now did the fuel gauge actually move, from 99.8 to 99.7%. And yet the engine was accelerating him at closing on 4gs, or 40 meters per second squared.

**"My name is Solomon Epstein... And I changed everything".**

The craft shot by, continuing to gain velocity by its remarkably efficient engine, unlike any which came before.

* * *

**Codex Entry: Admiral Natalie Heift**  
Born in 2292 to Nobert 'the Nutjob' Heift and immediately inducted into the Outer Planetary Alliance, Natalie Heift grew up in the care of the OPA for almost 14 years before she moved to begin military training onboard an OPA Basestar. There she showed her affinity for command, but began building a bond with her crew. After 5 years of commanding the Basestar, she defected to the Archian side shortly before the war. This is due to a swarm of nadders being kept in the brig killing a space amoeba which had boarded the basestar.

Unfortunately her father discovered her plans to defect and dispatched a basestar group led by the _OPAS Nyx_ to bring her to justice, however she and her crew spent the next to months in hiding, murdering the fleet sent to bring her in, and completely obliterating the _Nyx_. It was onboard the _Nyx_ that she slaughtered its entire crew when they shot her second in command. What followed was a slow and merciless orbital bombardment of every OPA colony in 2 systems.

The so-called Massacre of Sierra Delta 4 (After the system she was in) is kept severely under cover due to its brutality and lack of mercy, something which is not often seen. Shortly after the massacre, Heift launched a brutal assault on her fathers flagship and killed him when she overloaded its fusion core, however her own ship was caught in the explosion and she was stabbed by a piece of debris.

It was then that Rear Admiral Chrisjen Avescerala found the wreckage of both ships in Sierra Delta 4 and rescued the crew of the basestar. In exchange for amnesty, thousands of terabytes of data and intelligence was given freely to the federation, a crippling blow which allowed the Archian Admiralty to begin Operation: Mosquito Net. An elusive operation to stow away ships including the first of the large _Donnager_ class ships, the _Donnager_ herself.

During her time onboard Avescerala's flagship, (At the time she was the captain of the _Spirit of Fire_) the she aided in planning several operations against OPA command ships, and inherited the _Spirit of Fire_. Under the oversight of the admiralty board, she became the second youngest admiral in history, beaten only by admiral Hackett. The _Spirit of Fire_, originally a _Freyja_ class Siege Cruiser, was refitted shortly before the conclusion of the OPA wars into the latter _Leonidas_ class Destroyer, but she oversaw the removal of two of the _Spirit of Fire's_ spinal railguns and instead fitted it with extra torpedo storage bays, a state of the art locking system taken from the scuttled Battlestar _Sagittarius_.  
Ever since then, the Heift doctrine made the Archian Research Division take another look at their torpedoes, making them larger, more powerful and giving them additional capabilities, including the introduction of _Gatebuster_ class ISBMs.


	23. Flash Boiled

"_Point flash towards the faces of people and objects of interest. For best results use from medium to long range, and keep it still while pressing button. When flash has discharged, please wait for the capacitor to recharge by listening for the beep, or in some cases a fully charged light to ensure your flash will fire at full power_",

An old camera flash manual, 1998

* * *

**Sur'kesh, Salarian Homeworld, AWS _Sovremenny_**  
No warning was given as the ship dropped from FTL. Nothing. The _Sovremenny_ was humanities first attempt at a stealth ship, and by dropping out of FTL out of sensor range, they had spent the next week using ion engines to approach the asari fleet in Sur'kesh. As the ship finally entered range of its passive sensors, admiral Souther swallowed nervously. The fleet defending was huge. 6 dreadnoughts, 24 battleship sized contacts (either battleships or battlecruisers), 110 heavy cruisers, 340 smaller cruisers and nearly 900 frigates arranged into wolfpacks of 12. It was a fleet of fleets, larger than any seen.

"Sir, Admiral Hackett wants to know the fleet composition". He gripped the handrails harder, "Put him onscreen now".

The old man appeared, looking more tired than usual, "Admiral Souther, did the stealth ship work?".

"Yes it did, but Sur'kesh is easily the third most defended asset they have, only behind Thessia and the Citadel. Well over a thousand ships with two salarian dreadnoughts, 3 asari dreadnoughts and an Ascension class as well. Not to mention the ODPs".

While the orbital defence platforms themselves where fairly low power, especially compared to the Baneblade platforms surrounding Arcturus, they would pose a significant threat with how many there where. Roughly 80 orbital gun platforms, 28 missile platforms and 40 hangar bays. The fleet was by far the largest they had faced so far. "I can see the data admiral. Enter FTL on my mark, the admiralty has sent some reinforcements".

He nodded and cut the communications, before giving the order to enter FTL. This better be some reinforcements admiral. As they completed the 70 second journey, and left FTL he was greeted by the fleet to his direct front, but immediately the space on his flanks shifted. "Admiral Souther, this is the turian second fleet. Prepare to receive reinforcements". The avian and utilitarian vessels belonging to the turian heirarchy left their own FTL and came into a flanking position. With them where two of the turians remaining dreadnoughts. Not only that, but he was struck speechless, when a seven kilometre long behemoth dropped from FTL, directly to his right flank. There, in all her glory, spinal weapon brandished, was the _Unyielding Heirophant_. The seven kilometre long flagship dwarfed the turian dreadnoughts, dwarfed the asari superdreadnought, dwarfed the Sovremenny. Without so much as a hello, she unleashed her spinal armament.

The barrel began to revolve, and a set of rings occasionally covering the vessel began to glow brightly. Seconds later, the weapon fired. A mist of white particles projected either side of the cannon, as the heat radiators glowed a dim red. The projectile was a glowing white ball, projected at nearly 40% lightspeed. It struck the kinetic barriers with such force, that it shattered them, before the ball of pure antimatter struck the asari superdreadnought. In the instant it touched, the antiparticles reacted with the ordinary particles. Each single atom of antimatter broke into pure energy, and the 20 kilogram mass of antiparticles exploded with 30 times the energy seen on the largest atomic bombs. The asari dreadnought disappeared beneath the explosion as the white borders of the circle grew. Consuming the dreadnought, and seven wolfpacks of frigates escorting it. The explosion eventually died down, but the asari superdreadnought was nowhere to be found. Only a slowly expanding cloud of debris, and the occasional fragments from the frigates caught in its cloud. The Mjolnir hypervelocity antimatter coilcannon had been a huge success, and with its task now complete, the _Unyielding Heirophant_ began to cruise forward.

Its massive railgun batteries starting to pick on the remaining two salarian dreadnoughts. Souther gave the order for his own ships to begin firing torpedoes, and could only fathom one thought at witnessing the first official field test of the Mjolnir coilcannon, _We didn't level the playing field, we frakkin' annihilated it_.

* * *

**Resistance Headquarters, Thessia, Amirashi D'Biete**  
"I'd like to remind everyone that this meeting is completely classified, from even your own troops. We need to keep involvement to the minimum and our activity as normal up to the day", said the Resistance leader, Leia Organa. She was a short woman by asari standards, with a light blue skin tone and wearing a stark white uniform. Her only tribal tattoos where a ring of dots on her cheekbones, and she was stood with the rigidity which only naturally came to soldiers.

As Amirashi took her seat, she folded both arms in front of her, and stared at the walls. Bare rock poked through hastily erected fabrics, along with several wires which like connected to communication units. The chairs where nothing more than logs arranged into rows, with Organa typing into a terminal. The terminal was connected to some sort of projector, which had yet to activate.

Others soon began to enter, mostly Colonels and ranks slightly higher. The women who directed full squads of resistance troops. While she had been attacking the air base, many others had been carrying out hit and run attacks on empire convoys attempting to carry vital supplies. The humans called it Guerrilla Warfare, they called it survival.  
"Right now that we're all here, we can begin. Approximately two days ago, Colonel D'biete's soldiers destroyed much of Military Installation 06 in a remarkable show of bravery and strategy. Ever since then, the asari have been unable to supply the _Hammer of Sur'kesh_ with the new Nuclear Torpedoes". One of the soldiers at the back raised her hand. "Can I ask what that has to do with us sir?".

Leia pressed a button. On-screen, two of the humans appeared. One was a dark-skinned man, with several wrinkles indicative of old age and the other was a much younger black haired woman with the words 'Spirit of Fire' emblazoned on the badge below her neck. "Soldiers this is Rear Admiral Anderson and Admiral Heift of the Archian Federation. Admiral Heift you have the floor".

There was a slight pause, before the black haired woman began to speak. "_To your earlier question Colonel. The crippling of the empire's defensive grid of nukes onboard the Hammer of Sur'kesh has allowed us to mount a decisive attack on the dreadnought. Without its escorts and its high yield torpedoes, twelve minutes ago, Admiral Anderson started an attack on the dreadnought, and we have faith that he will succeed. But the dreadnought is not the main problem. This is_".

A huge industrial building appeared. The white exterior was arranged into a steadily narrowing building with several massive funnels and radiators attached. Nearby power cables where connected to a large bank of transformers, and the exterior of the facility was filled with shuttle pads, warehouses and in some cases, gun batteries. It was clearly a refinery for element zero. "_The main Eezo facility south of Thessia's capital city. We want to take it_". Shocked gasps filled the room at her suggestion.

"You want us to take a high security refinery? We can't do that we don't have the numbers to mount an assault like that", said one of the more experienced colonels". Admiral Heift was patient though, waiting for the noise to die down before speaking again.

"_We don't intend to let you do it alone. Our marines are mobilising as we speak, and we will be providing orbital support for a limited time to remove entrenched positions and take out armoured vehicles. But the benefits of taking such a facility at this time would far outweigh the cost. The empire would not be able to mount an effective retaliation quick enough, and waiting will deplete what little caches are left. It would send a message to the galaxy_".

Before she could stop herself, Amirashi felt herself ask, "How though? How do we attack a military target with maximum defence. We got luck with Instillation 06 and still lost and third of our troops".

"_Simple, we'll divide the troops into three forces. The first, Katya will move in through the main road and keep pressure on the defending troops. The second, Nina, will do the same, but through the gate to the west. That way they think its a diversionary attack. We then use our supply of recon drones to draw fire from the GUARDIAN towers as we drop in a gunship to remove the heavy gun emplacements_".

An orthographical map of the compound appeared, with several key locations highlighted. "_The final, Marsha will be dropped in via shuttles. They can attack from behind and surround the defenders, possibly forcing a surrender_".

One of the soldiers behind her, a former refinery worked actually, asked a very good question. "What about the facility itself? Most of it's underground to prevent contamination. So we'd need to break the underground troops before we set up a permanent defence".

"_We have a plan for that too. We intend to cover all of the exterior vents and then seal the workers in with a particularly nasty chemical agent, the agent wil-_".

"You want to conduct chemical warfare? That's barbaric!".

"_They have envirosuits down there. Once the alarms go off, they'll put them on. When they do, they'll try to escape through the main entrance, so we open it up when they arrive and force a surrender_".

Leia folded her arms, "You do have a plan for what to do if they don't surrender right?".

"_If they don't surrender then we won't open the doors and they can have a lungful of vaporised slitherwing poison and perish 2 hours later. This is a war, and people die in wars. You can abstain if you want, but every minute longer this war goes on. Another dies. Human, Dragon, Turian, Asari, Salarian it doesn't matter_".

The communications was cut, and the image of the admiral disappeared. "Bitch", she heard Leia mutter under her breath. "Any questions?". No-one bothered to put their hand up. Amirashi herself was beginning to stew over what the human had said. They would really lock a room full of workers and soldiers in with a deadly chemical agent? It was a horrifying thought. Would the humans really go so far in war as to start killing innocents. _No, not innocents, they chose this life. More like... GAH!_ Instead of stewing in her annoyance at not being able to figure out the humans, she got up and went back to her quarters. Maybe the shower was free at this time.

* * *

**Thessian Capital City, Armali Square Hospital, Tela Vasir**  
"Sir I can confirm that I am completely fit for duty".

She hated it here. Hated having to sit in a sterile room while doctors and idiots in labcoats stuck scanners into her face, injected chemicals into her blood and told her to stop getting irate with them. It was their fault, frakking idiots couldn't even be bothered to just let her get back to the damn frontlines.

"_Oh really? You're recent performance on Dalitari says otherwise_". She folded her arms, outraged at whatever the Frak the bitch in command was saying. "Performance my ass! I took down a Night Fury AND its rider. I took down a soldier which have been tor-".

"_You almost killed several civilians and children from the eezo bomb you set off, and had we reoccupied the planet, we would have had major problems there. Its's a shear miracle you weren't court-martialled like we plan to do with Lidanya if we ever get her back_".

"It was a noble sacrifice of them so we could take down a Night Fury. And I stand by my decision. How much did it hurt the Archian's huh?".

"_The two you killed became a martyr for them. According to sketchy reports a full squad of Night Furys slaughtered a platoon of commandoes without mercy_". Vasir rolled her eyes, "If they couldn't take one down they didn't deserve to live".

"_And that kind of mentality is exactly why as of this moment, you are no longer fit for frontline duty_". Her blood boiled over. "You Motherfrakker! You don't have reign over my actions!".

"_I do. Consider yourself demoted to Sergeant, and no longer aloud on the frontlines_", the captain said, a smirk on her eyes. "Oh yeah, then where are you deploying me huh. Motherfrakker". She added the last part on in a murmur, and the narrowing of the captains eyes told her she head it just fine. "_You're to report to the Armali Element Zero Refinery. you're new command is them_".

"YOU ABSOLUTE FRAKHEAD. You're putting me on factory patrol for a bunch of undertrained asses!?". The captain sneered again, and she more than wished she had control of an ODP to wipe that mug grin off her face. "_Perhaps you will learn your place there, and learn how to restrain yourselves_". And with that, the communication was cut off.  
Tela stood there, boiling in rage. The admiralty had assigned her to a factory as punishment for what she did on Dalitari?! Those frakheads didn't deserve the recognition they supposedly got. If it weren't for her, there'd be one more damn fury flying about the place.

Wasn't Haddock unfortunately. Oh yeah, Haddock. If there was any name that pissed her off more than the captain of the Cinder, it was that of the motherfrakker who had humiliated her onboard of the frigate at Freezing-to-Death. That bastard had cost her the rank of Commander, and she would ensure he rotted in the depths of sunspot prison.

Oh yes, the human and his night fury endlessly taunted her in her dreams, and she had swore that she wouldn't just stop at the Haddock. She would kill ever Night Fury she could find. Long Live the Empire!

Maybe she could get some use out of patrolling the factory? Perhaps planning an elaborate trap for when they captured whatever sludgehole the humans and dragons had crawled out of. After all, no force could beat the empire.

* * *

**137 years earlier, Space Near Mars**  
An engine, roaring like that of a lion, bluer than a sparkling ocean and yet somehow more ethereal than the space which surrounded her, burnt like hell on its journey away from a slowly shrinking red dot. Still well within gravitational range, but getting faster by the second. The engine was barely shaking the ship at all, and the only sign of acceleration inside of the ship was the force imparted on objects within its hull by their natural resistance to motion.

Attached to his crash couch, Solomon Epstein smiled slightly as he looked over the readouts. The fuel gauge was barely moving from its place at 98.3% and the slow drop in fuel levels was causing the acceleration to creep up as well, surpassing 4 times the force of gravity. They where now accelerating at nearly 40 meters per second every second. An absolutely insane feat of engineering and science considering their relative fuel use per second.

**"My drive was working better, no waaaaaay better than I ever expected. Fuel efficiency was through the roof. 100s of times better than anyone had even thought possible, a once in a generation breakthrough!".**

Epstein's smile grew as the velocity meter continued to rise at a rate anyone else would have called wasteful and unneeded. He mustered a whoop of joy as the rate continued to rise, before grimacing slightly as the force of gravity was beginning to annoy him, pushing him against his crash couch.

**"And that was the whole problem".**

He grimaced again as he watched the fuel gauge tick down slightly again. One hand trapped on his chest, the other above his head. Both felt like they weighed a ton as he held in a slight cough as the g-force bar continued to tick up. The engine was steadily increasing its thrust as more fuel was forced into the engine.

**"See, a high-G burn hurts like hell, I felt like someone was standing on my chest. It was getting harder for me to talk. Or breathe".**

He closed his eyes slightly, a slight breath of oxygen escaping him as he coughed again. Above him the panel hung glaringly close, the button labelled 'SHUTDOWN DRIVE' within arm reach. "Shutdown. Main. Drive", he managed out. Struggling to finish the statement. The words where clear enough for any computer to make out. Funny how the button labelled 'REACTIVATE VOICE COMMAND?' was just below the drive button and taunting Solomon.

**"Not that talking would have made any difference".**

He struggled and diverted every ounce of strength to his left hand, which was close to a much lower down red button labelled EMERGENCY DRIVE SHUTOFF.

**"The acceleration was making my body so damn heavy it was getting hard to even move".**

As he did so, he pushed hard than he ever had before, straining to reach the button. His wedding ring glinting on his finger as he tapped the button with his finger slightly. He grunted with exertion, a sweat bead being thrown from the side of his head against the back of the craft, making a heavy 'drip' noise, as though someone had thrown a piece of metal against the ground. But it was for nought.

His hand shot back above his head, and he screamed in pain as something made a rather worrying 'crunch' noise. The odd position was only slightly painful for his hand once it went numb, and he had a feeling he had broken his wrist as he focused on moving his right hand back down to his belt.

**"Oh that was bad enough. But... the most dangerous thing about being in a high-G burn, is that if it goes on long enough... It'll kill you".**

The tiny yacht shot by, going ever faster as it continued to disappear into the ever deepening space. Its velocity, acceleration and even the rate its acceleration changed growing by the second as more fuel was burnt, and the mass of the spacecraft was reduced further.

**Codex Entry: Unyielding Heirophant**  
As the largest warship that has ever been seen or made throughout all of civilized space, the _Unyielding Heirophant_, or _Heirophant_ class Super Flagship is the greatest symbol of power that any nation could ever hope to yield.

The _Heirophant_ itself is built like a scaled up version of a _Donnager_ class flagship, and stretches a mighty 7.2 kilometre long, making it as long as Mount Everest is tall. The ship is posses 1800 decks with several electromagnetic lifts to carry people around. Its primary armament is an absolutely colossal 'Mjolnir' class Antimatter Coil-cannon. The cannon requires hours to charge up under normal conditions, and the specifics are classified, as are the hyper-efficient particle accelerators which collect the antimatter.  
When firing the cannon launches a glob of pure antimatter towards the enemy at near relativistic speeds. When this glob hits anything made from normal matter, both the glob and the matter are converted into pure energy, making every single material and armour form constructed from ordinary matter useless, as the orb will continue through until it runs out of antimatter. The cannon had only ever been fired a quarter power before the first contact war, and that shot had shattered all previous power measurements one could think a gun of this scale would ever be able to achieve.

In terms of secondary armament, the _Heirophant_ class carries dozens of railguns on its hull including every single model and a pair of Magnetic Hydro-dynamic Projection cannons. It also carries over a thousand 40 millimetre point defence cannons, 300 Rapid Reload Torpedo tubes as well as 10 VLS tubes for high yield ground strike warheads. (Nuclear, Antimatter). It possessed a number of magnetic launch bays for its colossal strike craft complement, several hangars where Raptors and shuttles are kept. A full pre-fabricated garrison base for use in planetary assaults, and even an ore enrichment and refinement along with mining drones and solar dust scoops. This allows the ship to fabricate ammunition from as little as asteroids and a nearby star, making its effective range limitless, as it also possesses a number of aquaponics farms and vitro-meat synthesis chambers.

In short, the _Unyielding Heirophant_ is such a large ship, with such a massive cost per unit, that the construction of one practically killed material exports with the shear volume of just the gronkle iron shell. It is unlikely any more _Heirophant_ class ships will be constructed in the near future with shipyards trying to account for a massive loss in smaller patrol ships, as Asari attempt to break through the lines. And the only two vessels of the class, the _Unyielding Heirophant_ and the _Long Night of Solace_ will remain attached to their respective fleets with the _Heirophant_ in the Arcturus defence fleet and the _Solace_ scheduled to be attached to the Sol Defence Fleet.


	24. Nuclear Deficiency

**Sparta Fleet Civilian Shipyards, British Space Engineering Systems**  
BSE Systems could possibly be thought of as the oldest engineering based company in the entire Archia Federation. When the sea levels began to rise, the corporation which had been calling itself BAE Systems had risen to the task and created the HMS London, the first of the mighty ark ships which had saved humanity. Their prototype 'Kaminari' engines had been sold to almost every nation on the earth before the fall, and much of their civilian ship designs where extremely popular.

They where responsible for remarkable feats of engineering like Arcturus Station, and their CEO, Charlie Singleton was a remarkable engineer. He had worked alongside the director of shipwrights, Sinon Quade during the OPA Rebellions to design the _Jupiter_ class Battlecruiser, and his legacy would live on onboard the AWS _Charlie Singleton_, a _Valkyrie_ class stationed above Terra Nova. Never the less, he was currently tackling a ship even more incredible than that of the Jupiter class. The KHCS _Nauvoo_.

Above the civilian fleet yards of Sparta, was an absolutely colossal ship, rivalling even the Mass Relays and the _Unyielding Heirophant_. It was 12 kilometres long. Its fore section was shaped like a massive gold cone, which was tipped by a gold plated statue . Behind that the gold plates extended back into a massive centrifuge drum, 6 kilometres wide and as round as a planet. The main section extended for 10 of the vessels 12 kilometre length and was fairly uniform with occasional bands and rings which glinted in the night. At several points in the hull, there was only a slight metal scaffolding, where the hull sections had to be fixed on first. The sections which did exist where very flat on the inside, with occasional staircases and buildings which where at present acting as airlocks where the construction workers could take breaks.

Building the _Nauvoo_ had been a monumental task when BSE Systems had accepted it 12 years prior, but it was one they where willing to do, with the enormous funding afforded to them by the Kobol Church. A religious organisation which was by far the most widespread among the entire Archian Federation. After humanity had wandered to the stars, the religion was founded on that of similar beliefs to Hinduism, but its gods where greek in nature, as a Kobolese believed that humanities home was in the heavens. They believed that humanity had been given Terra from aliens, as a place to nurture and grow, and believed that it was their divine destiny to travel further and further. Enter the _Nauvoo_.

A generations ship designed to travel to the Andromeda galaxy with 1,200,000 of the church, chosen for their unending devotion to the gods of Kobol. They would set off with an FTL drive just about capable of getting them to Andromeda in roughly 1200 years, so the journey would be spent at what was effectively zero gravity, so to allow the followers not to die as their bones decayed, once the initial 10 day acceleration from the speed of light to thousands of times the speed of light had been done, the massive centre section would start revolving, providing a comfortable 1g downwards. The habitation section would have vast plains and farms to provide food. A long light rod down the centre for heat and light.

It carried only a single massive reactor, and much of the 1.5 kilometre bulbous chunks at the end carried enough antimatter for 1300 years. Once the initial jump was done, the ship would not need massive amounts of power for the journey, just enough to run the lights and the environmental controls. The Nauvoo was a floating city in space. Already with the pilot deck completed the followers had begun moving plaques and paintings in, along with a large table for priests to worship at. From Thomas' best estimates, the Nauvoo would be in construction for another 7 years. Before finally the worshippers and priests would begin a millennia long journey to another galaxy.

They would be able to change their course slightly thanks to the six Epstein drive cones at the end, kind of undersized compared to the rest of the behemoth craft. A long set of elevators, four in total allowed quick transportation from the pilot deck to engineering without needing to get through the centrifuge drum in the centre, which would be spun by very powerful RCS controls only made for one thing, to spin up the drum. The dragons going with them would not have to wait for 1300 years, and would instead be cryogenically frozen to reduce power and food requirements. If only we had the tech for human cryogenic storage, mused Charlie as he left the elevator platform and entered his office.

"Sir the leader of the Kobolese is here to see you", announced his personal assistant, Camina Drummer. She was about 32, a thin wiry woman with the tip of a tattoo just poking out of her jumpsuit. Her slightly fractured tone which was almost childlike in how she spoke, and the sheer lankiness of her body marked her as having grown up in low gravity. Not terribly low, there where regulations against anything below 0.6g. Charlie knew she was from Hera-151, the largest asteroid in the asteroid belt in the system of Picon. A massive chunk of space rock with a small mining station which just about hit 0.61g most of the time. She had obviously spent much of her adolescence mining for water ice or precious metals before BSE Systems had taken control of Hera-151 as a private venture and spun up the station to 1g, a surprise for many of the 'belters'.

"Thanks drummer, what's the status on our latest venture with whats-his-face".

"Whats-his-face as you called him said dat we need to hurry up. He wants his Baseship now, no matter how much material it costs". Charlie collapsed his head onto his table and groaned, "It's as if he likes driving our engineers to insanity".

"Maybe. Or maybe he just impatient son of a bitch". He rolled his eyes, "get that damn priest in here then".

The door slid open and in walked the priest. He was a tall and slender man wearing a pretty boring black suit and tie with black trousers. A white shirt beneath his jacket with 12 stars marked him as a part of the Church of Kobol, and he walked with an unnerving grace. At least for anyone not born in low-G or spending any time in the navy. "Mr Frite, what can I do for you?".

"Mr Singleton, we can see you are making progress with the _Nauvoo_".

"We indeed are John, its one hell of a task to design a ship of its scope or size".

"And we understand the significant holdings that BSE has placed around the Nauvoo, especially in regard to... certain dealings with outer colonies". That set of alarm bells in Tom's mind. "Well we need materials from across Archian space Mr Frite. Certain things we cannot get a-hold of from asteroids or gas giants".

"We where more referring the use and acquisition of military-grade carbon-Gronkle composite materials".

Tom slowly sat back in his chair. This was new, especially with the progress BSE systems where moving with on the temple ship. "We do dealing with many other companies John, we also provide military equipement and research for the Archian Federation. Carbon-Gronkle Composite materials are just one of the many areas we deal with".

"We more mean your dealings with... less reputable sources such as the Outer Planetary Alliance".

Silence liberated the room for a good minute. "Mr Frite. I am... unsure as to what you are implying".

He began stuttering slightly over his words, "Well. The council of elders are... understandably nervous at the previous investigations during the OPA Wars of connections between yourself and Mr Sinon Quade. And we where possibly thinking of having a different branch of BSE Systems continue construction work on the Nauvoo".

Singleton thought for a moment, heading to the window. "Mormon, tell me what you see out of that window". To their front was the behemoth ship. Several other ships cruising round and dropping construction drones which let of bursts of power as they edited their position with a degree of preciseness only really found in drones. "That right there is the _Nauvoo_, the largest ship in the history of the galaxy. And you're sending over a million of your people across several billion light years. That means you don't want mistakes".

He grabbed the Mormon's shoulder, shaking it slightly. "If I'm no longer in command of the project". He closed distance, a dangerous look crossing his features. "I can't guarantee that the new team would not make... mistakes". The threat was clear, and yet unspoken. After a few moments of consideration (by that he meant three and a half seconds), the Mormon spoke again, "I will inform the council that we cannot afford the delay moving the project would present". And with that, he left the room.

"Camina?".

"Yes Boss".

"Get the chief on the line. I need to speak to him. Now!".

* * *

**Thessia, Asari Space, ****_AWS Normandy_**  
"Okay. easy does it. Lets do this quickly and quietly", said Anderson as the Normandy finally began to enter range of where the dreadnought was expected to be. "As long as the resistance took out their nukes we'll be fine. I think", said Hiccup, who was nervously stood behind the conn station. Toothless grumbled and he fixed the dragon with a glare. "Oh it'll work. After all me and Gaeta designed it". Slowly the Normandy cruised foreward, and it began to shift from subspace into real space, before its laser ranging system lit up and began scanning all known profiles.

Looking completely unconvinced, the Night Fury walked up slightly closer. "SONAR contact at bearing 134 carom 045". There was mark one. "Classify as Sierra 1 and keep scanning", said Anderson. The ship continued to cruise forward, several more contacts where pinged in succession. "Sir solution on Sierra 1 has reached 65%, profile matches... Aerilon class". So a frigate, not too much of a problem too far. Slowly the signatures built up on the other ships. 2 more frigates, a pair of cruisers, of particular concern was the heavy cruiser to their direct front. It wouldn't really be a threat without any missiles, but it had some of the thickest armour they had seen.

"SONAR contact! Wait... that can't be right". Hiccup walked towards Gaeta, who was pressing several buttons and trying to verify an error message.

"Sir this contact isn't registering on our ranging laser. It's as if it doesn't exist". Anderson, whose eyes hadn't moved from the conn station, asked

"Maybe a false ID".

Gaeta shook his head, "Nope, its definitely there. I'm sending over the sonar profile now". Anderson's computer pinged, and both Hiccup and him stared at the console. "I've never seen this profile before. Sensors?!".

"No good, it doesn't match any known warships". Alarm bells rang out in Hiccup's mind, telling him to escape. This wasn't good. "Keep an eye and prepare all 6 missile tubes for fire".

"Aye admiral".

In the guts of the _Normandy_, several magazines linked to shared magazines rotated several racks, and a large missiles was quickly loaded into the battery, ready to fire. Hiccup continued to observe the new contact as its solution reached 70% and began to remain stable. It was small, whatever it was, no larger than Archian Corvette sized. But quick, and very smooth profiled. Its sonar spikes where quieter, obviously making it much more stealthy.

And it had no thermal signature at all. As though it was just some empty space.

"SONAR contact! Bearing... 345 Uhh, carom 067". Another one?! Hiccup prayed to god this one was the dreadnought. It had to be. Intel said it was only defended by a flotilla as most of the Thessian fleet was spread out in a vain attempt to find the Spirit of Fire.

"Profiles?".

"Same as our last one. It's another one of those hidden ships". Hiccup was once again mystified. How the hell had the asari managed to get stealth ships. Subspace hiding was not exactly rare, but it had previously been useless as no sensors existed which could penetrate it. Not only that, but normal ships did not produce subspace signatures, only element-zero fed ships did, or... "Oh crap, Hiccup go get Moller, we need him up here ASAP".

Hiccup nodded, and proceeded towards the ladders. Sliding down it, he entered the mess hall, and found the brown haired Briton having an arm-wrestle with Serenity Osberg. Who, unsurprisingly, was winning by far. He honestly could say he didn't know much about the brown haired psychologist. Except that she was deceptively strong. In a way she reminded him of Astrid a lot with how she trained. But obviously unlike Astrid, she was kind, gentle and with hazel eyes. She was also a psychologist, while he had no doubts if Astrid joined the military, she would end up an infantryman. Possibly a marine since her dragon Stormfly was well suited to the tasks of tracking down men onboard warships.

"Captain Haddock?". That was another thing Hiccup had been getting used to. Ever since joining the military he had been made a Gunnery Sergeant straight away, an odd choice which Ryker had said was due to his previous experience as a chieftain. But following the attack on the orbital defence gun he had been promoted straight to captain making him the same rank as Gaeta, but in the infantry rather than the navy. Gaeta still referred to him though, however in terms of command Gaeta was the same rank as Hiccup. Hiccup himself held two ranks, one while on the ground, Captain (Which had nothing to do with the captain of a ship who was usually three ranks higher), and one while onboard the Normandy, Lieutenant. Kolgrim was the leader of the marines onboard the Normandy, and while that rank normally fell to someone of Lieutenant Commander or Commander rank, Kolgrim had been specifically picked and he had held the rank of Captain. Formerly being stationed as the captain of the Anubis.

And yet in this situation he deferred to Hiccup because of Hiccup's role on the ship. Apparently Kolgrim had specifically requested a transfer to the Normandy after commanding the Anubis for half a year. Whether this was personal Hiccup did not know, but for now he was a respectful member of the crew. "Kol- Captain Moller we need you up in the CIC".

He nodded, and without pause rose up and began following Hiccup towards the CIC. As they reached it, Anderson passed the sonar profile to Kolgrim, who took it without preamble and began inspecting the lines. After a minute, his eyes narrowed and he growled. "Motherfrakkers". Purple streaks began to light up his eyes.

"What is it?".

Kolgrim ignored him and turned to stomp angrily down the stairs, wisps of purple extending from his armour. Hiccup looked with confusion at Anderson, who saw fit to explain, "Kolgrim spent some time as an OPA prisoner during the wars. It was during the final few years, and several freighters just... exploded. We had suspicions the OPA found an ultra-low energy emission FTL system. Kolgrim's ship, the _AWS Hermes_ fell under attack, and he managed to gain what we thought was a sonar profile".

Anderson then pointed at the screen where the still unsolved contact was flickering. "That ship and the profile Kolgrim retrieved have the same low end spectrum. They're both stealth ships".

Before Hiccup could stop himself, he muttered "Son of a bitch. Now they're copying us".

"Admiral Heift never mentioned this. Not that we can do much about it". He then brought up both hands to his face, and Hiccup found himself staring at where Kongur had disappeared to. "Is that why Kongur looked so angry?".

David nodded, "He didn't say much about his time as an OPA prisoner. He got... he still has scars from there though, not all of them physical". The tone of David's voice made Hiccup shiver slightly. He didn't want to imagine about what that kind of nation would do to a prisoner of war. He wondered whether or not Mistjaw, Kolgrim's Snaptrapper had been with him at all beforehand, or whether he met the four headed dragon afterwards.

But to the matter at hand, Hiccup was still wondering what to do about the stealth ships. Perhaps if- "Oh frak. We're being target locked!".

* * *

**137 Years Earlier, Space near Mars**  
Like a bullet, a tiny craft shot by, its engine flaring like a dragon. The craft continuing its endless journey towards a fixed point. That point being good old c. The speed of light. The speed of force. 300,000,000 meters per second for the standard person.

Inside of that craft, Solomon could feel the massive force keeping him pressed against his seat ever increasing. He gave a quick prayer to the gods that the craft had a crash couch. If he had been standing up he would have been a hell of a lot less comfortable. Didn't make a difference either way. A high G burn would kill anyone given enough time. And he could feel what little he had left being snatched quicker and quicker by the engine he designs. Kind of ironic.

**"At the rate that my drive was burning my fuel was going to last for weeks. Which I had to say, was amazing".**

On the screen in front, the fuel counter was tauntingly dangling at 94.1%. Barely moving at all as the craft continued to blast through the heavens.

**"Aside from the fact that I'd be dead way before that".**

A sharp ringing began to emanate from his belt, and he looked down. His personal phone was bleeping loudly with a light up message which read, "Incoming New Message, Sender: Katie Epstein". His heart soared. Maybe, just maybe, his wife would be able to help figure something out. He was headed towards the inner planets, maybe they could catch him.

**"the only thing I could do was try to signal for help. Though I couldn't talk Katie would know what was going on. She'd figure out a way to help me".**

He moved his (mostly) uninjured hand towards the phone. Accidently dragging it against one of the straps, he cried out as it left a long gash in his hand, but persevered. Reaching down he managed to clutch his fingers around the device and begin pulling it out. The device just about managed to come out, and he left it against the couch so as not to risk it falling.

**"It was my only hope, my last chance".**

Above him, on the menu, the velocity meter tipped above 375 kilometres per second. Faster than any man had ever gone before. The g-force had now hit 9.1gs and was steadily creeping up. Within moments, the entire ship went red. And the g-force meter threw up an error message which read, "Out of range".

The phone dropped, moving towards the floor of the craft at colossal velocity. By some miracle it didn't shatter and continued to beep. He strained with his arm to reach the device, maybe he could send an emergency call.

Another beep, "ERROR, DEVICE OUT OF NETWORK RANGE".

**"And I blew it"**.

And the fastest ship in humanities history, continued into the unknown. Never to be recovered.

* * *

**Ranks in the Infantry, Navy and Air Force (including special forces)**  
In the army or any ground based special forces. (For example Fury Corps) A soldier will normally start at Private, before being promoted straight to rank three (Lance-Corpora), rank four (Corporal) and rank five (Sergeant). After this the development is pretty standard from ranks 6 to 19. In order this is Sergeant, Warrant Officer 2 and 1, 2nd Lieutenant, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Lieutenant-Colonel, Colonel, Brigadier, Major-General, Lieutenant-General, General and General of Federation.

The Air Force develops much in a similar way, no matter if the man pilots a metallic craft, or rides a dragon designated as a specific ground support and anti-air dragon. (Usually this means wearing a Kevlar flight suit over the dragon's vulnerable body parts and mounting specialised combat stimulants). In this case the first and second rank is an Aircraftman or Dragon Rider depending on their craft. This is followed by Senior Aircraftman or Dragon rider, Corporal, Sergeant, Flight Sergeant (which spans ranks 6 and 7), Warrant Officer, Pilot Officer, Flying Officer, Flight-Lieutenant, Squadron Leader (Rank 12) Wing Commander, Group Captain, Air Commodore, Air Vice Marshal, Air Marshal, Air Chief Marshal and Marshal of the Archian Air Force.

Finally is the navy. In the navy, almost every crewman starts off as a marine unless they attend a 4 year officers course. In which case they are still trained in weapon usage and marine armour operation. This also includes marine based special forces including Force Recon. Rank 1, 2 and 3 crewmen and marines all carry the same name of Able Rate (sometimes called Ensign). Leading Hand is the fourth rank, followed by Petty Officer, Chief Petty Officer, Warrant Officer 2 and 1 (as in the army at ranks 7 and 8), Midshipman, Gunnery Sergeant, Lieutenant, Lieutenant Commander, Commander, Captain, Commodore, Rear-Admiral, Vice Admiral, Admiral, Fleet Admiral and Admiral of the Navy. The Admiral of the Navy is the highest rank that can ever be held by an Archian Officer as the present Admiral of the Navy is Steven Hackett.

While generally it is rare, if in the case where two people of the same rank are present, then the situation will dictate who is in command. If for example it is on a ship, then those in the Navy have precedent. If it is on a planetary surface then the Army will take command. unfortunately for those in the air force there has yet to be a situation which the Air Force would be in the know.

Other ranks which are much rarer include Praetors. These are intelligence officers from the ministry of defence who are certified rear-admirals and take command of flotillas for the purpose of intelligence or accompany fleet admirals. Wingmaidens and Crusadors, marines who specialised in boarding actions and remained in the marine corps, and artillerymen, who are trained in the operation of MLRS systems and are similar to Brigadiers.

* * *

**The Wingmaidens in this are slightly different to those in RTTE. Basically, the Crusadors consist of both men and women. Those who choose to be crusaders are trained with massive suits of very thick armour. Those who gain the trust of Razorwhip babies however (and aren't mulched by their parents) may be given much lighter armour as the Razorwhip is a metallic dragon not requiring kinetic barriers to survive in vacuum. This is the reason why the Wingmaidens where able to so easily board the asari ships. The reasons why the Nadders and others had gotten involved in space before will be explained in next chapter's codex section.**


	25. Update

Hi guys, it's me the Atomicsub.. M which you already new.

So basically... My laptop got nuked. Not really, my laptops broken though and I'm beigg forced to type this from my phone. I apologise for the delay, both Morrigan Effect and on HTTYD Battlefront. I'm trying to get it fixed but it's going to mean uploads are slower for the next few weeks while I get it repaired. Of you're interested, I'm doing a small YouTube series om both books just to give you some more detailed stats on ship classes. Both Morrigan Effect and HTTYD Battlefront.

My YouTube channel is ViggoGrimborn927 if you're interested and I hope you guys enjoy it. Anyway that's all for this week. Sorryyyy


	26. Stroked Out

_"Batman once said if you kill a killer, the number of killers in the world remains the same. So with that logic in mind, Imma just kill every killer in the galaxy, then turn the gun on myself. How do you like them apples huh? I mean... x+1 has gotta be smaller than x*x. Where x represents the number of killers. And if every killer is killed by someone different it becomes the square of x... however... wait would it be 2x instead? I don't frakkin know, someone get me notepad and a tequila shot. Oh crap, and someone get the dead guy out of here? Thanks buddy"_ \- Unknown Marine sergeant during the OPA Wars.

* * *

**_AWS Normandy_, Thessia, Asari System**  
"Frak me, all engines ahead now!".

Hiccup darted for a chair and quickly fastened himself in using the straps. Within seconds he felt a massive force press down on his torso and a groaning noise fill the cabin. He watched as Toothless dragged himself to a cryo-chamber, and the automatic doors closed down, shielding the dragon from sight. "Gaeta what's happening?", he asked.  
Gaeta frantically drew up the screens, switching between them. "I got us crawling through subspace towards contact Sierra-1 with a torpedo in each tube but you sure as hell better have a plan because both of our new stealth friends have target locked us".

"Fire a torpedo at each of them and prepare the countermeasures".

Two metallic clunks echoed out through the cabin as the torpedoes where fired from their tubes. Immediately their RCS engines ignited and rotated them round before a pair of drives activated on the rear. "Torpedo locked on both, they're trying to communicate to the dreadnought".

"Jam them then!".

The noise continued as the ship cruised ahead, its engines making it clearly visible on subspace sonar. "Hit! First torpedo has... holy Thor look at that!". He looked out of the window, and in the fog of subspace, could see a bright flash in the distance. "It exploded?".

"Not even, it imploded on itself, the second stealth ship deployed- oh frak Torpedo inbound!".

Hiccup bit down on the mouth guard as the ship pivoted with huge force and sent his arm above his head. "Anderson whats the plan?!", he asked. David pressed several buttons on his console. "We need to take out the dreadnought before they get word of what's happening".

Gaeta gulped, "It may be too late sir, they've target locked our region of subspace and their missile bay doors just opened".

Hiccup racked his mind for a way to escape from the situation, anything which could help. While in subspace their PDCs would be useless against a full salvo, they'd have milliseconds to take down the torpedoes and while he had seen the cannons do some remarkable things, taking down a full dreadnought sized salvo of torpedoes while in subspace was not doable. "Anderson I'm out of ideas what do you think?".

David grunted as the ship jerked again, causing Hiccup to grimace. "Sorry! Had to dodge a frakkin mass accelerator shot from that damned dreadnought! Admiral what are my orders?".

Hiccup thought for a moment. The enemy had numbers and power on their side with the flotilla surrounding the dreadnought. Its main strength came in its spinal cannons which could out-perform anything but the largest railguns in the Archian Armada. With extra torpedoes it also threatened the smaller warships as well. They needed to outrun not only the mass accelerators of the dreadnought, but those of its frigate and cruiser escorts.

Suddenly a stupid idea popped into Hiccups head. "Gaeta what kind of material is our armour made of?".

"Titanium-gronkle iron alloy. Designed to absorb thermal energy from torpedo attacks". That made sense, no-one could really build armour capable of stopping a 20 ton tungsten slug at several thousand kilometres per hour.

"How close you reckon you can get us to that dreadnought".

"What are you suggesting Lieutenant Haddock?".

"We get super close to the dreadnought and ram a torpedo up its ass, then keep flying circles around the central spire".

"At that close range we won't last long against the dreadnought!".

"We'll last longer than we will out here in the open, and they might not risk shooting at their flagship".

"Admiral?".

David just closed his eyes, "Do it Gaeta".

Gaeta shook his head before bringing up the helm controls. "Someone better have a magic solution for how the frak we're going to deal with their lasers".

"Extend every frakkin PDC we got onboard and prepare the rail-gun to fire", said David.

The grey mist outside retreated, and before Hiccup knew it the massive shape of Thessia was glowing in the light of the star. The dreadnought, even at this range, was intimidating. It's design was similar to that of other asari capital ships with a main hollow central spine possessing the main engine, a pair of long wings holding its spinal cannons and two massive towers on the dorsal and ventral side holding the hangars and command centers.

Around it the cruisers and frigates where in a very tight formation, and Hiccup almost forgot to breath as they circled around the dreadnought at such close range he could actually see the GUARDIAN lasers on the hull circling round to point at him. They where shaped like rifles on turrets, with long barrels glittering in the sunlight. Very different from the short, stubby barrels of PDCs. "Armour integrity is falling!".

"Open fire on the Guardian lasers and prepare tube four for firing". A dull rumbling shook the hull of the Normandy as it let loose sprays of bullets. At the range they where at they where not at all registered by the kinetic barriers, as they didn't have enough time to deflect or change the trajectory of the shots. Several of the PDC's where unable to acquire and so just fired at the wings of the dreadnought, likely doing nothing but pissing it off.

"Holy Thor, they ain't firing on us at all. But we got several fighters inbound to our position".

"Shred those bastards to hell and fire tube two".

The asari fighters, obviously completely excited at seeing an enemy ship so close to their own pulled well into range of the PDCs, and within seconds where torn to shreds as several hundred rounds perforated the flimsy ships like a hot knife through butter. The railgun on the underside of the nose of the Normandy obliterated the remaining GUARDIAN laser in a shower of molten metal, and a torpedo floated, almost serenely, away from the Normandy into the central engine section, before exploding and causing jets of flame to fire out of the engine. "Hit on the upper engine block, the dreadnought is damaged, what now?".

"Get that nuke ready. Hiccup you're in the cargo hold with Moller, the mission remains the same".

"What why?". Anderson looked conflicted as he turned away and pressed Toothless' release mechanism for his pod. "I'm afraid that's classified".

The ship shook slightly, as a large tubular shape shot from its launcher and embedded itself in the crater of the previous torpedo. "We are not done talking about this!", he yelled as he proceeded down the stairs with toothless on his heels. "Lieutenant Haddock!", he heard from the side, to see Khodemchuk dragging his weapon with him. "Have you seen Captain Moller?".

"He's in the cargo hold apparently, what's going on?".

"I don't know Hiccup, all I know is that it has something to do with a refinery on the surface, I heard Admiral Anderson talking about it yesterday afternoon". He stopped dead. "Maybe we're going down a little sooner than expected?".

"Possibly, or this could be unrelated. For all we know"

* * *

**_Spirit of Fire_, Somewhere near Thessia**  
The doors to the bridge flew open with a massive crack, and the angry footsteps grew in volume as the bridge crew saluted to the new arrival. "At ease crewman. Now would someone do me a kind honour... and take a moment out of their busy schedule to tell me WHAT THE FRAK IS GOING ON DOWN THERE!".

Her tablet buzzed with a report. "The asari have some sort of stealth ship, it managed to pick up the _Normandy_ prematurely and the _Normandy_ have engaged in... we aren't really sure".

She looked at the report, with a 3D model of the contact as well as the subspace SONAR readings on the stealth ship. "What do you mean we don't know? They're either in torpedo fighting range, railgun range or CQB".

"Well. they've entered ridiculously close quarter battle".

"How close?".

"Try two frakking feet close quarters, they're lighting up that dreadnought with every single PDC they have and for now I'm not sure how long till one of those cruisers gets the bright idea to open fire".

She sighed and shut down the tablet. "Then we can only pray they make it. What's the status on the flotilla?".

"All repairs are complete and they stand ready to initiate Operation: Uppercut". A wicked smile crossed her face. "Clear to engage".

* * *

**GUARDIAN 09HJ, Orbital Missile Facility**  
"_Tiger 1 this is Spirit of Fire, you are clear to initiate Operation: Uppercut_".

"Copy that Spirit of Fire, Uppercut confirmed".

Praetor Helena Agathon gave the go ahead to her second-in-command, Lieutenant James Cree, who raised his weapon and began proceeding down the halls. "Tiger 2 this is Tiger 1, status?".

"_Tiger 2 here, the neurotoxin proved excellent in killing the marine bay, we have Night Terrors moving through the vents to take out the sensor arrays now. Tiger 3 is ready to secure the small arms locker and we're preparing to move through the missile door control bay to reach the secondary conn_".

She continued down darkened corridors lit only by blue emergency lighting and kept her weapon raised. "Copy that Tiger 2, we're about to take the primary control center".  
She cut off communications before anything could happen and came to a door. Raising one hand she pulled it down once, before motioning to the door, and Cree withdrew a small hexagonal pad. The pad would use a shaped explosive charge to blow the door in and disable the electronics, then they would burst in and slaughter everything that moved. She wished they had some nadders, or possible a Hobblegrunt, but in this close quarters a magnesium fire could melt the face off of the nadder firing it, working on a missile platform wasn't known for featuring spacious conditions.

The whining of the explosive grew in volume, and the door exploded inwards. Immediately flashing strobe lights on their weapons appeared, and they burst in firing suppressed rounds. A plasma shot would leave a white hot trail and let out a lot of noise as their weapons cooled, for this a suppressed coilgun would be far stealthier, and the weapons only let out tinking noises as the little metal pellets bounced off walls.

Fighting in zero-g was a challenging ordeal, as bodies did not fall. They just sort of stayed where they where and swayed from side to side. Meaning as gory as it sounded, they could be used for cover. And that was exactly what Agathon did as she moved with expert motions behind the dead body of an asari and fired a full clip of ammunition at the opposite wall.

With strobe lights blinding them and a hail of coilgun accelerated metal slugs flying through the room, the asari stood no chance, with blood droplets floating serenely through air, a purple colour far different from the crimson of human blood, but somehow different from the magenta blood many dragons had.

"Tiger 1 to Tiger 2 and 3, the Control Center is down, what's the status on the secondary bridge?".

"_The asari here put up a fight, two of my guys are dead and we lost a Night Terror in a grenade explosion, but no alarms tripped for now_".

"_Tiger 3 here, we took heavy casualties when we attacked the small arms locker, there's just 5 of us left, that frakking intel the turians gave us was bullshit_".

"Tiger 2 rendezvous with Tiger 3 to take the RCS controls and await further orders, the Stalingrad is 2 minutes away from making contact and we need this place ready for when the others arrive".

"_Acknowledged, moving to secure now_".

She nodded to Cree who lowered his weapon and inserted a small stick into the computers, before frowning. "Update Cree?".

"Computer Systems are impressively well defended, it seems these guys didn't get the memo to network the PDCs like the others did".

"So how fast can you get the systems ready to fire".

"At least 2 days, maybe more. Brute-forcing this kind of security within hours is going to take more computing power than I have here".

"Crap, then we need a plan B...". She thought for a moment. "_Tiger 2 here, we've taken the bridge, but the commanding officer is already dead_".

That was an annoyance, if the CO of the entire station had been killed they had lost their access to the missiles. "Crap, what's the prognosis?".

"_Looks like she shot herself. Should we continue the operation Praetor?_".

"Of course. Secure the rest of the area and vent the other compartments". Shutting off the line of communications she then yelled, "Someone get me a tightbeam to the _Spirit of Fire_".

"Aye Aye Praetor, tightbeam open".

The shape of Admiral Heift entered the screen, "_Praetor what's the status on the facility_".

"We've secured targets 1, 2 and 3 with low casualties on Tiger 1 and 2, but Tiger 3 took heavy casualties on the small arms locker, seems our Turian friends weren't as accurate as we hoped".

"_Unavoidable I'm afraid, what about the CO?_".

"Dead I'm afraid, she put a little lead ball through the front of her skull and painted the walls with her brains". Heift grimaced, before nodding "_Then our job just got a lot harder, how much time does Mr Cree need?_".

"A few days, maybe less if we can get him more resources or we get lucky. What's this all about? Why are we taking a strategic missile silo?".

"_Call it a contingency and stop asking questions before it gets you in trouble or killed. Praetor I'm sending the Scipio Africanus to your position as a hacking rig, but I want the damn ship back before we enter phase 2 of Uppercut_".

"You'll have my assurances admiral. What should we do in the meantime".

"_Be ready for the signal and prepare to fire the first silo, our intel says its a fuel air explosive but double check it isn't nuclear, I'd rather not irradiate a garden world_".

"Aye Aye Admiral", and with that the screen shut off and Helena dropped the tablet to her belt. "Cree we got an EWA ship inbound, will that do you any good?".

"I can get the timing down to a day at most, but that's still 6 hours too late for-".

"For uppercut I know. In the meantime find anything computer you can to speed up the process".

"Aye Aye Praetor. What about y-".

An asari burst through the doors with a battle cry, her weapon raised and clicking uselessly. Judging by her uniform, the lack of armour, and the non-existence of any kinetic barrier generators on her armour, she was a non-combatant who had seen too many movies and TV shows. Her blue and brown uniform bore the emblem of the Asari Navy, and the deep aqua blue tone of her skin said she was young, possible as young as 38, the youngest age an Asari was allowed to join the navy. With all that in mind it was probably completely unlikely the maiden had ever taken a life, yet here she was pointing a weapon straight at Helena. Who didn't even flinch before putting a 2.5 millimeter wide copper slug through her eye.

Her body, unconnected to the floor by her mag boots, which had become detached from the floor at some point, flew forward like a loose jumpsuit. A purple trail of blood droplets decorated the room as they coalesced like a slimy red animal and crept backward behind her. The limp body, lacking any of the life it had been possessing just seconds before, slammed into the opposite wall with some force, and a blob of blood no larger than a fist splattered against the head tentacles of the asari.

"Someone get that frakking door shut. I'm going to meet up with Tiger 2".

* * *

**137 Years Earlier, Somewhere in the Sol System**  
The engine continued to burn. Its lone occupant strapped to his chair. The g-force was over the point where he could even lift his joints. For all the use his muscles where he might as well have been drugged, and at this point, his vision was darkening and blurring. Only slightly.

Adrenaline was already filling Solomon Epstein's veins by the time he reached this point, about 34 minutes into his flight. The golden reflective insides of his yacht where quite beautiful as they reflected the glittering lights at the control panel as the fuel gauge slowly ticked down. At this point Epstein had no reservations about what he had done and what would happen.

A truly ironic thing to be killed by ones own invention.

**Sooner or later it happens to us all**

The plasma particles left a thin blue wake in their trail and the gleaming ship was visible at the tail end from thousands of kilometers away, as opposed to the hundreds of kilometers for standard fusion torches of the era.

**Me, you, everyone you love. Maybe you see it coming. Maybe it catches you by surprise.**

His deep blue eyes closed in pain again as the pressure against his head and body increased. He could see dark spots forming in the center of his vision and a horrifying pain growing in his head, like his brain was exploding.

**But, in a sustained high-G burn, what usually kills you is a stroke**

His eyes suddenly widened and a breath of air in the form of a gasp escaped. Blood began to cloud his eyes and turned the deep blue irises and whiteness to go a deep crimson. The red criss-crossed lines of too many nights with not enough sleep where eclipsed as the blood blinded him to everything.

**Lying there, on my death bed. All I could think about was... what happens next.**

The fuel gauge ticked down a tenth of a percent again, as the ships mass was lightening significantly. After all, most of its mass was fuel, but at the rate it was burning it, the acceleration would continue quickening. To use its own creators words... a once in a generation breakthrough.

I'd never give Katie a child. But she had the plans for my drive.

The pain doubled tenfold, but he couldn't even scream in pain as the back of his throat lumped up and the drowsiness took over. His vision was completely black now. His eyes a stark red as his brain struggled to keep his quickly failing body from dying. A futile gesture considering just how little blood was actually going to a good cause.

**They'd make her rich, for the rest of her life. Because with my drive... the Epstein drive. The Archian Federation would finally be able to move outward and bring order to a scattered human race. Go out beyond the outer planets. Explore the belt. Bring aid to struggling colonies. Keep pirates at bay. Remake the galaxy in our image.**

These thoughts floated around what little remained of Solomon's consciousness and he would have smiled, had he not been dying on an acceleration couch. Struggling to breath. Struggling to even think.

**My drive would give us the edge we needed to finally break free from the sol system. Not just as a colony, but to establish a permanent home. To build a new world for ourselves**

**That's the wonderful and terrible thing about technology.**

The craft shot by, heading out in its infinitely long journey. Never to be recovered. Only visible by telescopes.

**It changes everything.**

* * *

**Codex Entry: _Normandy_ class Stealth Frigate**  
Length: 128 meters

Wingspan: 56 meters

Powerplant: 1 RTX-908 Antimatter Reactor

Engines: 4 Variable Sweep 'Wyvern' Hybrid Epstein-Pion plasma rockets, 2 retrograde pion rockets

Drive Core: Lancer Mk I Hyper-light Negative Point Drive

Armaments: Multiple concealed torpedo tubes, 8 Redfield Ballistics 40 millimeter point defence cannons, 1 spinal retractable 'Kopesh' light railgun

Auxiliary Craft: Small hangar bay capable of fitting a fighter and a single Shieldmaiden assault tank

Utilities: SONAR arrays, Subspace Entry System, Internal Emissions Sink, Advanced avionics and atmospheric control surfaces

Codex: With 1 currently in service and 120 more planned, the _Normandy_ class Stealth Frigate is by far the most advanced warship ever introduced by the Archian Naval Administration. Designed and tested around Gargantua black hole the ships are a relatively rare sight presently, the second of her class, the _AWS Stalingrad_, and the third, the _AWS Taranto_ are in an incomplete stage, but where rushed into service to provide logistical services for Operation: Uppercut. While the Normandy is a relatively new ship, rumours throughout Archia space already reference Project: Laniakea, a joint operation with the Turian Heirarchy intended as a one-off, as budget pre-requisites are already comparable with the development of the _Unyielding Heirophant_.

* * *

**Hi guys, so I managed to secure myself in the apprenticeship I was going for. It means my job switched from shoving items onto shelves into looking at little pictures of aeroplanes and getting excited when they do things in the right way, followed by almost murdering someone as I realise that half the test script needs rewriting. Funnnnnn... Literally have had barely any time for writing and while I do this apprenticeship my writing speed is going to be cut in half. At this point I'm going to have to own up and say that I can't hope to keep to any sort of schedule so for now, just expect at worst 1 chapter a month and at best, you might get lucky and I might suddenly come out with several chapters. I know its terrible to have such an inconsistent schedule, but for now its the best I can do. I'm not the best of writers at the best of times, but at this point I can't do much.**

**Also to the person who is using this story as a premise for their own... I'm actually interested to read it, but please make sure you have permission from writers in the future before you use their universes. Just leave a little note in the authors comments section, just saying "By the way, I was inspired by HTTYD: Battlefront" that's all it takes. But yeah I don't mind so much, but others may get a little more annoyed.**


	27. Mobius One

**Hiccup Haddock, AWS Normandy**  
"You sure this will work",

"No clue comrade, but its better than standing around and waiting for those cruisers to gain an idea".

"Just bear in mind I've tried this before and it did NOT end well". Murmured Hiccup as they loaded onto the asari shuttle. Stolen from the planetary defence gun, Hiccup thanked the gods they had kept it around. "Is the bomb ready?". Khodemchuk chuckled, before patting a fairly smallish shape with a beeping blue light. "This thing will turn everything in an 80 meter radius to hot plasma".

By that he meant the warhead they'd hastily torn off of a torpedo and stuck to a timer before loading it into the shuttle. "Copy that. just make sure it works!", said Hiccup as he manoeuvred his way into the main compartment. "Anderson we're ready with the shuttle".

"_Copy that Hiccup, we're ready up here with the thrusters. The asari shuttles are trying to sneak round and gain a bead on us, the plan is to rip them apart with our PDCs_".

Hiccup closed his eyes as the door of the shuttle closed with a mechanical whir. "Aye Aye sir, just don't leave without us".

"_We'll try not to_". The dull roar of the PDCs echoed out and the shuttle jerked before blasting forward and out. Several bullet holes appeared as the PDCs made it look real, none any risk of course as Hiccup adjusted the blue and white armour of an asari marine, the armour nowhere near fit him and it was chafing his arms trying to keep the element zero rifle pointed at the floor.

Kolgrim coughed, before flicking on his voice synthesiser. "_This is shuttle 2 from the asari cruiser Lucian requesting repairs, access code 3449_".

"Now we find out if the turian intelligence on the access codes was worth squat".

"_Shuttle 2 you're not on the arrival schedule_".

"_We took damage after the attack on the human stealth frigate and we won't have enough fuel to make it back to the Lucian_".

As they approached the hangar bay, several GUARDIAN lasers extended and directed to point directly at them. "_Shuttle 2 hold position now and prepare to be escorted by shuttles 7 and 8_". Two other shuttles with gimballed turrets pulled onto their flanks as they held position.

"Oh frak, okay they aren't falling for it this time", said Hiccup. "Do we have anything we can do? There's no way we can bluff our way up close".

Kolgrim laughed hysterically, before grabbing the controls. "I have an idea...". With a massive burst of power, they launched forward and rammed straight through the kinetic barriers. Sparks flew from the consoles and inside the hangar, guns flashed as bullets sparked against the fuselage. "Get some fire down there!". Hiccup raised his rifle and slid open the door, before firing randomly on the large mass of soldiers in the hangar.

"Get that bomb out!". Khodemchuk kicked the machine forward as it flew from the open door and the inside of shuttle was pounded with gunfire. Hiccup then spotted a large tube being set up on a mount, and a gunship lifting off. "And on that note its time we say goodbye, MOLLER!".

The engines flared and the ship lumbered across the narrow hangar with all the grace of an elephant on drugs. "Oh Пиздец. The bombs been set off!". Hiccup continued firing his rifle, before it beeped and the cooling slide slid open letting loose a pulse of steam. "Well crap, Moller we might need to hasten our escape!".

"What the frak is going on back there?".

"Khodemchuk set the bomb off early".  
"I will have you know I did nothing of the sort".

"Then how did it activate?".

"I kinda forgot to activate the-". A particularly accurate shot speared through Khodemchuk's chest, and he collapsed to the floor. Hiccup gave a shout, before pressing both hands over the wound, which was now spurting blood. "KOLGRIM!".

"HANG ON".

The explosion was silent, almost entirely. The lack of air in space meant noises couldn't be transferred, and the detonating plasma warhead was as silent as a winters night, the same went for the Normandy blasting away and catching the shuttle in its open cargo bay. The shuttle screeched across the floor before slamming into the rear wall and jerking. "Anderson we're onboard!", yelled Hiccup as he tore off the asari armour and called for medics.

Outside, a mass accelerator shot narrowly missed the destroyer. One of the Normandy's tubes opened as it curved round and arced straight at the now damaged dreadnought. A swarm of four torpedoes dropped as it fired its spinal railgun which slammed straight into the open hangar and ripped the guts of the ship out like a bullet through a clock. The torpedoes where intercepted, but one which made contact with the ripped open hangar and consumed the front of the ship in a nuclear blast.

With the dreadnought gone, the computer pinged with forty friendly IFFs as the _Spirit of Fire_ and its fellow warships appeared from FTL and began unleashing their rail-guns and PDCs on the remnants of the asari fleet. 20 seconds later, the asari finally began rotating their ships towards the fleet, but the Spirit of Fire and its fellow warships shot past, having been travelling with a relative velocity of nearly 8.9 kilometers per second.

By the time the asari fleet opened fire with their mass accelerators, the _Spirit of Fire_ had disappeared back into FTL, its strafing run leaving the defence fleet crippled. While the cruisers and frigates had been left untouched, no-one had defended the missile platforms or the ground support ships. No-one would actually realise this fact until the following day.

* * *

**Armali, Asari Empire Capital Building**  
"This is unacceptable Benezia! A dreadnought crippled above our own homeworld? A spaceport destroyed and in ruins! The defence fleet struggling to defend freighters from the Archians?", yelled Tevos as she stared at the shimmering image of Benezia, who was not on Thessia.

"_I am already taking steps to minimize the impact of the Archian fleet group in Thessia. The STG have informed me they have been given stealth ships capable of suspending themselves for extended periods of time in stealth_".

"And yet while rebels ravage through our homeworld you see it fit to head for the Citadel", she said.

She wanted to punch Benezia as she smugly replied, "_The Citadel possesses the largest fleet shipyards in the galaxy and is a vital target, I am currently overseeing the development of the new and improved Destiny Ascension, and with the hull laid down, we may be able to strike back against the Archians before they have a chance to-_".

"To what!? They've already hit Thessia several times and taken out numerous convoys carrying Element Zero to the frontlines. How can our fleets fight back if they have no fuel!? Answer me that!?".

"_Give authorisation to spread out the fleet and start protecting the convoys. If we can't hunt them, we can at least protect the resource they're after_".

"Fine, but I swear to god you can't ignore the demands for a ceasefire much longer".

"_I will take whatever means necessary to defend Asari sovereignty, even if it means carrying out unrestricted warfare and start slagging planets"_. And with that, the image flickered and disappeared. "Frakhead.

As the hologram disappeared, she felt something. A presence. As though someone else where in the room with her, and drew her sidearm. The gun levelled on a single human, clad in armour sat at the side of the room, out of view of the hologram, and seeming unconcerned by the gun.

He then raised his arm, and a flickering image of Grimborn appeared. "_Representative if you are seeing this then it means the situation has reached a breaking point. Should you choose to continue, control of the asari homeworld can be relinquished by the end of the week. For now I am afraid you must follow all instructions of Lieutenant Baker here_".

The message cut off, and before she could comprehend what was happening the alarms went blaring red, and the soldier (Baker?) had grabbed her and fixed a pair of cuffs around her arms. 7 more soldiers entered, all in a similar set of deep black armour with glowing purple highlights. When they spoke, they spoke with an authoritative tone which made her realise these people meant business. Their voices where heavily synthesised, and the glowing purple masks swirled with energy.

**"Target is secure, moving to evac".**

"Where the frak are you taking me". She managed to wrestle her arm free, and raised a biotic barrier. One of the soldiers pulled a small instrument from his back. It was a smooth and oddly shaped gun type article, with a purple orb which pulsated. On closer inspection she realised all of the soldiers had one. With relative ease, he threw his hands forward, and purple swirls surrounded her, paralysing her movement. They then grabbed her and manhandled her forward again.

A pair of asari jumped forward from behind the door, and with relative ease, the two forward soldiers raised their guns and fired two tame green orbs which overwhelmed their armour and melted them to the ground. Tevos wanted to throw up at the horrific show of gore, but couldn't. As they rounded the corner, she was led to a balcony.

Near the balcony, a heavyset craft with a smooth black exterior and a single set of rotor blades was hovering there. It had a pair of short stubby wings and a single rotor on its tail concealed within a shroud. **"Airwolf is onsight, launching now".**

As she was thrown into the craft, the other soldiers boarded and the thing jerked before she was fastened into a seat, and whatever stasis field surrounding her dissipated. The ground was rapidly receeding from view as the craft shot upwards, its engines whining and burning like crazy. A mechanical clunking echoed out, and before she knew it, the blue of the atmosphere was darkening as they shot upwards.

**"Spirit of Fire capture is complete, preparing for rendezvous with the Stalingrad at gridpoint 6H"**

A masculine, but much lighter voice replied, _"Copy that Airwolf. Going dark now"_.

"Where the frak are we going, Answer me!". The human soldiers ignored her, and one not-so-subtly angled his rifle towards her. She flinched away, thinking back to the two asari marines who had been shot by them, before remaining silent. The two hour period as they receded through the rigours of FTL where filled with awkward silence, every attempt at gaining information met with silence, or a threat from the guns. She found herself despising these humans even as a loud bang signified an exit from hyperspace.

**"Stalingrad this is Airwolf, request docking permission, Alpha Alpha Zero Zero Niner Zulu".**

_"Airwolf you are cleared to enter hangar bay"._

A ship unlike anything she had ever seen before was fast approaching. It resembled a fighter more than anything, with four engines mounted on rectangular pods under its swept down wings. A single fuselage section with a hangar under the nose. It was painted a deep black, and imbued with the word _Stalingrad_.

As they set down in the hangar, she rose on order, and proceeded into a cramped and almost full hangar deck, where the shuttle from the planet filled most of the space, the only other craft present was one of their tanks, a heavy vehicle with a massive rail-gun on its rotating turret.

As she proceeded forward, one of the soldiers from before gestured with his gun to a room at the back, as she entered, her heart dropped. The room was dull and bare, with a single crash couch which doubled as a bunk, small side room which she guessed was a toilet, a couple of other contraptions where present, what she assumed was a sink and table with chairs. But this was a prison cell.

She was a Prisoner of War.

* * *

**Hiccup Haddock, AWS _Normandy_**  
Hiccup made his way through the crowded CiC to the briefing room with Anderson in tow. Apparently the higher ups had reached the end of their leash and wanted to bring about a quick end to the war. To facilitate this, Hiccup had been ordered to join in with an air assault on the Thessian refinery which provided much of the refined element zero to the asari fleet, which would be swiftly followed by a formal demand for a ceasefire. Hiccup didn't want to see what would happen if they didn't give in to the demands.

Especially with the overwhelming speed the Turian fleet was making a comeback with nuclear weapons created from fission.  
As he entered, he took a seat at the side with Toothless at his feet, both looking at the center of the room where a hologram of the facility stood. Others began to enter, most of which Hiccup didn't recognise. First was Moller, who was dressed in a flying suit which Hiccup didn't recognise. Behind him was a loudmouthed and brown haired American with a similar flight suit and a badge which read, 'Alvin H Davenport'.

"Well well well, if it ain't back to the future in-person". The man leapt forward and slapped Kolgrim on the back. "I didn't realise Grimm here actually told the truth". He held out a hand. "Flight Sergeant Davenport, also called Chopper while in the air".

Kolgrim smiled and retorted, "We where wingmates back in the OPA rebellions. He flew under that nickname, I got pegged with 'Grimm' because-".  
"Because you never smiled you grumpy bastard". A heavyset pilot with a buff and muscled body and face remarked, "Warrant Officer Jack Bartlett. Nicknamed Heartbreak One". Hiccup shook his hand and staved off a wince. "Any reason for the nickname Heartbreak?".

"Cause he can't keep a girl more than a month", remarked a short woman with black hair and a badge which marked her as a flyer for Stormcutters. "Kei Nagase, Edge for short". "Alright troops settle down. Don't want to overcrowd your captain do yah?", said Chopper.

Hiccup laughed, "Wait captain, I thought-".

"Lieutenant Haddock?", asked a blonde haired and thinly wired man with a bomber corps badge. "I'm Wing Commander Shepard Book, Codename SkyEye for short. You're facing a temporary promotion to Squadron Leader for the Archian Air Force for this mission". Hiccup saluted, "Uhh, thank you sir? But why the sudden promotion?".  
"The Air Corps are a mess. We got redirected from Sur'kesh with a light carrier and we we're running short on officers. Our original Flying Officer, Lehman got sent back to earth with a broken arm and a ruptured spleen after he took a bullet during a sortie, so for now you've got more flying experience than anyone if you're recollections about pre-modern era fights are anything".

He then removed a badge. It was metallic and had an oddly coloured yellow strip which had a very sharp 8 made from a ribbon which rotated around itself over a galaxy. A jet was above the 8 with two trails, and below it read Mobius Squadron. "For now you are Mobius 1, leader of Mobius squadron. Flight-Lieutenant Moller over there is Mobius 2, and I'll introduce you to the rest of your squadron later. For now we need to brief you guys on the situation.  
In the center of the room, the Refinery pulsed, before a massive cluster of dots appeared. "Here we have the refinery, its pretty standard for an asari fuel production facility, except... this".

Surrounding the facility a massive barrier appeared, it dwarfed everything else and covered the entire facility. It seemed like the domed shape would collapse under its own weight, "It's a kinetic barrier more powerful and sensitive than anything we've scene. Should the Asari become aware of an attack, they would activate the barrier which will keep the facility from any attacks. We need to take it down in order for the Resistance to get their soldiers in. But not permanently".

The shield generator appeared, an intricate looking spire in the center, surrounded by guns and vehicles. "The shield is generated from a single spire, which we are planning on crippling for a brief time to ensure the troops can get in. The Asari have a multitude of redundant generators which protect the spire itself, however, to vent heat there's a single thermal exhaust port at the base of the tower".

Chopper leaned over and whispered, "_Sounds like star wars_".

"Now the problem is the only way to reach the exhaust port is down a single heavily defended shaft which is protected by a variety of anti aircraft guns and heavy surface to air missiles".

"_Still sounding like Star Wars_".

"And we need to eliminate all of these in order for a bomber to drop a heavy FAEB down the port, the blast should be large enough to crack open the barriers, allowing a single dragon rider to proceed down the shaft and blow the main power connection coupling. This will allow the resistance to take the base while we provide air support, before repairing the shield to keep the facility from further attack".

"_Oooooh yep. Someones been watching too much Star Wars_".

Kolgrim rolled his eyes, and Hiccup held in laughter. It was kinda obvious Chopper was a joker. "A bomber wing, provided by Squadron Leader Patrick Beckett will carry the bombs, while Mobius squadron led by Squadron Leader Hiccup Haddock will neutralise the defences and provide guidance for the bomb. Listing squadron led by Patrick Beckett will attempt to protect the bombers, however we only have six fighters up there, so its likely Mobius won't be expecting any support".

One of the mobius squadron members who Hiccup didn't recognise raised a hand. "But sir our Aurora's will never be able to carry enough munitions to destroy them all".

"That's why we're thankful to the carrier Bratislava for providing several aerial rearmament drones and you'll all be given AV12G Typhoons to carry out the mission. I'll also be providing AWACs duty in an E898 Sentry".

"What about enemy fighters", asked Edge.

SkyEye gulped, "It's very likely the base has its own fighter complement, so prepare for air combat. We sortie in 2 days and 4 hours exactly. You'll be moved to the Bratislava for now Moller and Haddock for a short amount of training with your squadron so prepare your equipment for immediate transfer via shuttle. Dismissed!".

Hiccup saluted, before turning away. "Haddock wait a second", shouted Anderson.

Once everyone else had left, Anderson handed over a file. "You'll be joining the ground assault once we breach the shield. We're going straight for the control center to disable to ground defence guns and cause chaos... I'll be joining you this time because..." He looked around, before lowering his voice. "The Fury Corps accepted your application. I will be reporting on the mission and following this you're scheduled for immediate departure to New Princeton for training".

He was stunned at the proposal, he never actually expected to get in. "Wait really sir?".

"You did exceedingly well during the attack on the defence cannon with the intel gap we had, and you showed exceeding courage when we took down the dreadnought. You also kept Khodemchuk from bleeding out and he's personally recommended you for the operation. Damn fine job Hiccup". The Admiral left, and Hiccup found himself heading for the med bay to say fairwell to the heavyset Russian.

"Ahh, Comrade Haddock how are you?". It was clear he was delirious as Hiccup arrived. "Just to say goodbye Khodemchuk, you're headed back to Earth soon while I'm being transferred.

"Ahh, they said something along those lines, I didn't really pay attention, the unicorns flying around my head distracted me". He then chuckled, which devolved into coughing.

"You can call me Valerii as well my friend Haddock, you saved my life". He then raised a hand to Hiccup and drew him into a hug. "Удачи товарищ, I will see you soon".

"See you soon too Valerii". He then drunkenly saluted, before collapsing back onto the medical couch. Hiccup saluted and chuckled, before heading out.

He had jobs to do, and a new crew to meet.

* * *

**Codex Entry: Biotics and Psionics**  
Biotic - A term used to describe organic beings which are exposed to dust form element zero while still developing. Long time a staple of Turian and Salarian special forces, the dust form element zero (which is usually created when FTL capable warships explode over habitable planets) is absorbed by the cells of the host body while it is still developing and manifests itself during adolescence as a capability to harness the power of element zero in two key ways. The first is the standard use to raise and lower the mass of objects, the second being the capability to create telekinetic fields around objects to move them from a distance. Oftentimes exposure to element zero of any form causes dangerous cancerous growths however on the instance where the young survive, they often find their abilities accidently, and are transferred to specialised training facilities. Human biotics are almost unheard of due to a lack of element zero within human space, and exposure of element zero to dragons has, in every known instance, caused death.

Psionic - The polar opposite of Biotics, psionics are completely unexplained and it is unknown what or how these are formed. Psionics is the capability of an organic being to utilize unknown subspace fields to control the living biomass of organisms in ways which are unprecedented. While this is somewhat connected to willpower and courage the discovery of psionic beings was kept a closely guarded secret, and even still the few million psionic soldiers in the federation are kept a closely protected secret. Psionics allows manipulation of the brain in organics, or any form of matter. This can be done via the use of a psionic manipulator, a small device with a specialised energy field able to sustain itself. Dragons are among the most psionic beings in the galaxy, each being connected via an unknown psionic conduit to the alpha. Certain dragons such as night furies can harness this power more clearly, and the capabilities of human psionics allow communication with the dragons, the capability to aid fellow soldiers remotely, or the ability to harm or even control enemies. Psionic converters are a fairly old and expensive tech used to allow dragons to speak, and due to unknown reasons, the only dragon able to use them are Night Furies, of which currently only one uses one constantly. Nott'Einfari the representative for the dragons.

* * *

_"A Jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better, than a master of one" - _Unknown


End file.
